After a day of hearing for the Sabrimala Temple Case in which the Supreme Court said that it is unconstitutional to deny the entry of women in the famous Lord Ayyappa. On Thursday, Senior Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi, argued with the temple board, that menstruating women are not allowed in the temple because that has been the history of the temple.
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Singhvi said that the entry of menstruating women is not allowed inside the temple all across the country, and said that the temple is not discriminating on the basis of religion as men of all religion are allowed, but asked why the women only want to visit the Sabrimala Temple.
To which Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra replied that “visiting Sabarimala was a matter of their belief and their choice.” He gave the example of the Jagannath Temple in Puri, saying, “There are several Jagannath temples across the country but people choose to go to Puri.”
On Wednesday as well, the Bench heard the contentious issue relating to the ban on entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age in Kerala’s historic Sabarimala temple. The Bench questioned the nexus between age and menstruation and asked ‘what if the notification leaves out a 9-year-old or a 53-year-old who could be menstruating?’
Justice DY Chandrachud observed,“Woman is a creation of God. Basing exclusion on the basis of mensuration is absurd. Notification excluding women aged between 10 and 50 is arbitrary.” “Your (intervener’s) right to pray being a woman, is equal to that of a man and it is not dependent on a law to enable you to do that,” added Justice DY Chandrachud.
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The Supreme Court also questioned the temple authorities and said “On what basis you (temple authorities) deny the entry. It is against the Constitutional mandate. Once you open it for public, anybody can go,” observed the Chief Justice of India.