The Supreme Court continues to hear the row over the ban on women inside Kerala's Sabarimala Temple. As the hearing continues, the matter is being heard by a nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. On the third day of the hearing, the Centre backed the restriction of entry women of menstruating age into the historic temple by submitting data of temples which don't allow the entry of men. (PTI)
The bench also includes justices BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, AG Masih, R Mahadevan, Prasanna B Varale and Joymalya Bagchi.
On the third day of the hearing, the Supreme Court stated that excluding a certain denomination from access to temples and “maths” will have an adverse and negative effect on Hinduism.
"Everybody must have access to every temple and math. Keep aside the controversy in Sabarimala judgement. But if you say it is a practice and it is a matter of religion that I will exclude others and only my section, my denomination will attend temple and nobody else. That is not good for Hinduism. Let the religion not be adversely affected. It will be counter productive for the denomination," said Justice Nagarathna.
Adding to this, Justice Kumar stated that such an exclusion would further divide society.
Where the case stands On the third day of the hearing, the Centre backed the restriction of entry women of menstruating age into the historic temple by submitting data of temples which don't allow the entry of men.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the constitution bench led by the CJI that he filed a written submission and gave instances where men are not allowed in temples.
"It is a Devi Bhagwati temple, there are certain faiths and beliefs attached. There is one temple in Kerala, I read it, where men will go dressed as women. They go to beauty parlour and female family members help them dress in saree," said Mehta as per PTI.
"So it is not a question of male-centric or female-centric religious beliefs. In the present case, it happens to be woman-centric," Mehta told the bench.
This comes after the Supreme Court pushed back on the Centre's argument that courts cannot sit in judgment over religious practices.
This remark from the top court came after it highlighted that while the court may restrain in matters of faith and religion, it cannot ignore a practice which is found to violate the constitutional freedoms guaranteed to Indians, which includes the right to religious freedom.
SG Mehta further added that the Union's position stands that the 2018 Sabarimala judgment, allowing all sections of women to enter the temple, was wrongly decided on the presumption that men are superior and women are on a lower pedestal.
The constitutional bench hearing comes after a 2018 Supreme Court judgement lifted the restrictions on women and girls aged 10 to 50, deeming their exclusion as illegal and unconstitutional.