After a series of protests, the
Supreme Court today agreed to hear a batch of petitions seeking review of its September 28 verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple in
Kerala.
The court fixed January 22 as the next date for hearing the matter. SC ordered an open court hearing in all the 49
review petitions.
A batch of 49 petitions seeking review of the judgement was taken up for consideration in-chamber by a bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.
Earlier five-judge constitution bench headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra had junked the age-old tradition of the Lord Ayyappa temple by a majority verdict of 4:1.
The apex court said that the ban on women in menstruating age group, whose presence at the Sabarimala temple was considered "impure", violated their fundamental rights and constitutional guarantee of equality.
The Supreme Court's initial judgement has led to protests and counter-protests at the hill-top shrine in Kerala.
The temple protests have also triggered a major political upheaval with the BJP and the Congress both siding with devotees and targeting the Left government, which had pledged to follow the court order.
Besides the Association, several other petitions including one by Nair Service Society (NSS), have been filed against the apex court verdict.