HC asks petitioner to move Aurangabad bench on Shani temple

The Bombay High Court today refused to hear a petition seeking action against the Shani temple trust at Shani Shinganapur in Ahmednagar district for not allowing women into the sanctum sanctorum.
The division bench headed by Justice V M Kanade asked petitioner Ramesh Joshi to approach the Aurangabad bench of the high court where a petition on the same issue has been filed.
Joshi's petition says that by stopping women from entering the sanctum of the Shani shrine, the temple trust was violating the constitutional right to equality.
It also criticises the trust's action of carrying out a 'purification' of the idol after a woman devotee entered the the sanctum recently.

The traditional ban on entry of women at the sanctum sanctorum of the ancient temple led to a vociferous agitation by women's organisations last month.
The high court here is at present also hearing a petition challenging ban on women's entry at Haji Ali dargah in the city. The court has reserved its order on the petition.
Advocate General Srihari Aney has argued that unless the Dargah Board proves that the ban is a part of religious practice, women should be allowed to enter the shrine.