Sabarimala temple row: Supreme Court refuses early hearing of review petition, hearing fixed for 13 November

The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to give an early hearing to a review petition against the entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 years in Sabarimala temple in Kerala. Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that the temple will be open for 24 hours on 5 and 6 November and that court has already fixed the matter for hearing on 13 November, four days ahead of the commencement of the pilgrimage season. [caption id=“attachment_5425131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Protests against the Supreme Court verdict in the Sabarimala case. PTI[/caption] Earlier, the court had noted that there were 19 review petitions pending in the matter, filed by National Ayyappa Devotees Association and others seeking a review of its verdict. The apex court, on 28 September, had banned an age-old tradition which restricts entry of menstruating women between age 10 and 50 into the Lord Ayyappa temple by a majority verdict of 4:1. It said that the ban on women in the menstruating age group, whose presence at the Sabarimala temple was considered to be “impure”, violated their fundamental rights and the constitutional guarantee of equality. Several protests were witnessed after the verdict, with close to 4,000 people being arrested. A dozen women were also forced to retreat when they tried to enter the temple. In the review plea by the Nair Service Society, one of the petitioners, said the majority decision of the court “has the effect of holding that the character of the deity can be altered based on individual faith and belief, in violation of the tenets of a particular religion and or religious sect”. The petitioners have also argued that besides “patent legal errors” in the verdict, the assumption that the temple practice is based on notions of menstrual impurity is “factually erroneous”. Pointing to  massive protests  against the verdict by women worshippers, the petitioners have contended that “the subsequent events that transpired after the judgment clearly demonstrate that overwhelmingly large section of women worshippers is supporting the custom of prohibiting entry of women”. The doors to Sabarimala temple closed on 22 October and will open again on 17 November for the three-month-long Mandalam Makaravilakku celebrations when lakhs of devotees from the country and abroad visit the place every year.