Kerala government backtracks, allows TDB to buy time on SC's Sabarimala verdict

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In a clear case of developing cold feet at the eleventh hour, the Pinarayi Vijayan government gave a tacit nod to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to seek the possibility of obtaining permission from the Supreme Court to delay implementation of its historic verdict allowing entry of women of all age groups to Sabarimala temple. The TDB has authorised its president A Padmakumar to consult legal experts and on Friday morning it will meet again to finalise the nature of application to be filed in the SC.

"In principle, the collective opinion in the board meeting is to approach the Supreme Court with a petition seeking time to implement the order. We have sought legal opinion in this regard and a final decision will be taken tomorrow", said TDB president A Padmakuma r.

The LDF government had all along opposed the idea of a review petition or even seeking more time to implement the SC verdict, and the chief minister in effect reiterated the same on Thursday at an all-party meeting, saying "Faith is not above the Constitution or Fundamental Rights" and that his "government is duty bound to implement the Supreme Court verdict". Congress and BJP leaders, who demanded that the status quo be maintained till the Supreme Court disposed of the review petitions on January 22, called the all-party meeting a "farce" and walked out before the meeting concluded, saying that they were boycotting it.

Sabarimala temple opens today for the two-month long annual pilgrimage season and a considerable number of women in the 10-50 age group have already applied for darshan. With Congress, BJP and several right-wing organisations publicly stating that they are opposed to women's entry, there is apprehension of violent confrontation at Sabarimala.

If a favourable legal opinion is obtained, the TDB will file a miscellaneous application in the SC, praying to grant more time for implementing the order. The biggest challenge before the board will be to present a convincing reason for seeking more time. The board will press for an urgent hearing too considering that the shrine is all set to open.

The all-party meeting on Thursday, convened by Vijayan, turned out to be the non-starter it was expected to be, with CPM-led LDF, Congress-led UDF and BJP refusing to budge from their stated positions on allowing young women entry to the hill-top shrine.

Congress and BJP, both, accused the CM of having no interest in ensuring peace at Sabarimala. BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai claimed that the government is in a rush to allow women entry and is not ready to acknowledge the sentiments of devotees and believers.