Constitutional scheme prohibiting exclusion has some value: SC on Sabarimala issue

The Supreme Court, hearing a plea seeking the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, today said the constitutional scheme prohibiting exclusion has "some value" in a "vibrant democracy".

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also said that it will have to examine the submission that the believers of Lord Ayyappa of Sabarimala constituted a "separate religious denomination" whose practice of not allowing women of a particular age group inside the temple was protected under the Constitution.

"First of all, we have to determine whether the devotees of Lord Ayappa constituted a separate Ayyappan religious denomination," the bench, also comprising justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, said.

Terming the ban of entry of women of a particular age group as "partial exclusion", it said, "The Constitution has to have some value if it prevents exclusion. If Constitution permits equal rights to citizens then so be it."