Majority SC judgment in Sabarimala temple case has created an ambiguous situation: CPI-M

The CPI-M on Monday said that the Supreme Court should come out with a definitive stand on the Sabarimala temple issue and noted that the majority judgment of the court has widened the scope by making a reference concerning religious rights to a seven-member bench and has created an "ambiguous and uncertain situation" by keeping the review petitions pending.

In a statement, the politburo of the party said that the five-member Constitution bench was to hear the review petitions and writ petitions regarding its September 2018 judgment allowing women of all ages to worship in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

The CPI-M leads the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala.

"Instead of disposing of the review petitions, the majority judgment, deviating from the norm, has widened the scope by making a reference to various points concerning religious rights under the Constitution to a seven-member bench," said the party.

It said the minority judgment of two members has categorically rejected all the review petitions and upheld the 2018 judgment.

"By diverting the matter to other issues concerning women's rights of other religions, which are already being heard by other benches of the court, the majority judgment has failed to uphold the 2018 verdict and by keeping the review petitions pending has created an ambiguous and uncertain situation," said the CPM.

"As far as the CPI(M) is concerned, it is committed to the women's equality in all spheres and wants the court to come out with a definitive stand at the earliest," it added.

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court had last week referred a clutch of petitions seeking review of its order which paved the way for the entry of women into Sabarimala temple to a larger seven-judge bench by a majority 3:2 ruling.

The top court also observed that the right to worship by an individual cannot outweigh the rights of a religious group.

The Supreme Court had lifted a traditional ban on entry of women of menstrual age (10-50 years) on September 28 last year.