SC to conclude hearing on women's entry to Sabarimala temple, mosques in 10 days

The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed a 10-day period for concluding the hearing on the petition seeking women's entry into Sabarimala temple, mosques, and Parsi Agiyari.

A three-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde, was hearing the petitions pertaining to the discrimination against women at places of worship.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta mentioned the matter before the top court and said that all the lawyers from various parties in the case sat together and discussed the issue but could not reach a consensus on the matter, which is to be heard by a 9-judge constitution bench.

The Supreme Court had on January 13 said that it will only hear the questions referred to in the review order passed by it in November last year in the Sabarimala temple case, which allowed women and girls of all age groups to visit the shrine in Kerala.

The top court had in November last year, observed that the entry of women into places of worship is not just limited to the Sabarimala temple but also includes issues like allowing Muslim and Parsi women to enter religious practice.

The court is hearing a clutch of petitions seeking reconsideration of its September 2018 judgment that lifted the bar on menstruating women from worshipping in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

The apex court in a landmark 4:1 ruling had set aside decades-old restrictions on the entry of women of menstruating age inside the temple.

The verdict had sparked a series of protests across the state, which eventually led to the filing of several petitions seeking review of the top court's order challenging the authority of the court to intervene in a belief of the people.