Produce new law on Sabarimala by Jan 3, 2020 says SC

New Delhi, Nov 20: The Supreme Court has ordered the Kerala government to produce the new law for Sabarimala.

The court said that the new law exclusively for the Sabarimala Temple be produced before the court by January 3, 2020.

Make a law exclusively for Sabarimala temple like Guruvayur. This would be for administration and welfare of the pilgrims. We will give you 4 weeks, the court also said.

The SC said that the Kerala govt was asked to frame a new law for Sabarimala temple on August 27, but they have only produced draft amendments in the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act.

This is not enough and there is a need for a new, exclusive law for the administration of Sabarimala temple, a Bench headed by Justice N V Ramanna said.

As per the state's amendments in the Travancore-Cochin Religious Institutions Act, 1/3rd quota for women in Temple Advisory Committees have been provided.

The Bench sought to know how can women be in the panel when a 7 Judge Bench is yet to examine the question of essential religious practices.

The government said that if the 7 judge Bench decision leads to the return on the ban, then women over 50 years will be taken into the temple advisory committee. To involve women in the administration was part of a liberal push the government also said.

The Bench made it clear that the September 2018 verdict which allowed the entry of all women into the Temple is still in force.