Sabarimala verdict: SC declines urgent hearing of petition by Ayyappa devotees' group; review plea to be heard 'in due course'

The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined an early hearing on a review petition filed against the 28 September verdict allowing women of all ages entry into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple. The apex court said that “review petitions will come up for hearing in due course”.

Declining to hear the petition filed by the National Ayappa Devotees Association on an urgent basis, the Supreme Court said that “review petitions will not be taken up before the Dussehra vacations”, according to India Today. The temple is set to reopen on 16 October. A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph considered the submission.

Supreme Court refuses urgent hearing on a review petition filed against the verdict allowing entry of women of all ages in Kerala's Sabarimala temple. Supreme Court says, 'review petitions to come up for hearing in due course.' pic.twitter.com/PuHTc2abkh

— ANI (@ANI) October 9, 2018

The association had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court on Monday asking the top court to reconsider its ruling. The plea noted that the top court should not have passed an order allowing women of all ages to enter the shrine as it violated the Constitution and their religious rights.

The association, in its plea, claimed that this verdict of the Supreme Court had “shocked millions of devotees”. Filed by the chief of the organisation, Shylaja Vijayan, the association has urged the court to hear its case and review the ruling.

“The petitioners believe that no legal luminary, not even the greatest of jurists or a judge, can be a match to the common sense and wisdom of the masses. No judicial pronouncement, even of the highest judicial tribunal in this country… can be a match for ’the voice of the people’,” the petition read, according to reports.

The petitioner, who is not party to the original case in the Supreme Court, called the judgment on Sabarimala “absolutely untenable and irrational, if not perverse”. Hundreds of Lord Ayyappa devotees, including women, have been staging demonstrations in protest against the Sabarimala verdict.

With inputs from agencies