Kerala govt moderates Sabarimala stance, seeks Supreme Court decision after views of scholars and reformers

In a climbdown from its unqualified support for the entry of women of a menstrual age into the famed Sabarimala temple, the Kerala Government said the question of ban as an essential religious practice should be answered by the Supreme Court only after assessing the “impartial” opinion of “social reformers and religious scholars”.

Also Read: No shift in Kerala government’s stance on Sabarimala, says Vasavan

The poll-bound State, in its written submissions before the apex court, said “previous experience in the matter of Sabarimala shrine and the response of devotees, including women devotees”, should be considered.

The Sabarimala petitions would be part of multiple cases coming up before a nine-judge Constitution Bench on the question of what constitutes an “essential religious practice”.

On April 7, a nine-judge Bench will begin hearing the review of the 2018 five-judge Bench’s verdict in the Sabarimala case. The Supreme Court Bench had then held that prohibiting women between the ages of 10 and 50 years from entering the Sabarimala Temple violated Article 25(1) of the Constitution.