Women's entry inside Sabarimala temple: Senior counsel K Parasaran says women do not fall under protection of Article 25(2)(b)

Senior counsel K Parasaran on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that women do not fall under the protection of Article 25(2)(b) as the apex court heard the case relating to the entry of women into Sabarimala Temple in Kerala consecutively for the fifth day. Parasaran said that Article 25(2)(b) is applicable to address caste discrimination because the Article applies only to Hindus. “If it was meant to apply to women also then it should have been applicable to all religions since discrimination against women is there in other religions,” he said, according to Bar and Bench. Continuing his submissions for Nair Service Society, Parasaran said that the right of State to make laws to throw open Hindu Temples to all classes and sections of Hindus does not include women within its scope, according to ANI.  [caption id=“attachment_3093394” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sabarimala. Reuters[/caption] The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that all the customary or religious practices, like banning entry of women in the age group of 10-50 years into the famous Sabarimala temple, will have to conform to constitutional principles. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra referred to articles 25 and 26 (Freedom to practice religion) of the Constitution and said that a person can only be restrained on the grounds of “public health, public order and morality”. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae, had said that the exclusion of women of that particular age group was akin to untouchability which was prohibited under Article 17 of the Constitution. The bench, however, was not in agreement with the plea and said that Article 17 (abolition of untouchability) of the Constitution may not be applicable as the women, who are barred from entering, can also belong to upper castes and the provision relates to Scheduled Castes only. With inputs from PTI