Tinkering with Sabarimala practice not good, SC told

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 31

“Tinkering with the age-old restriction on entry of women between the age group of 10 to 50 years into the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala by declaring it unconstitutional would have far-reaching consequences,” advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told the Supreme Court on Tuesday.

“Declaring the practice unconstitutional would disturb the status of essential practices in other religions that have survived the test of time and stability,” Sankaranarayanan told a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra.

He also rejected the petitioner’s contention that the restriction amounted to practising untouchability, which has been banned under Article 17 of the Constitution. The parameter for attracting Article 17 is caste-based disability and not one based on sex, he added.

The Bench, also comprising justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, is seized of PILs against the age-old tradition of keeping women of 10-50 years out of the famous Sabarimala Ayyappa temple—one of the holiest Hindu shrines—situated on a hilltop in Kerala. The tradition is rooted in the belief that the deity is an eternal celibate (Naisthika Brahmachari). Arguments would continue on Wednesday.