Not just Sabarimala, larger Bench will take account of women’ entry into other religious places too

New Delhi, Nov 14: The Supreme Court gave out its reasoning before referring the Sabarimala matter to a larger Bench.

In a 3:2 verdict, the court said that the matter would be heard by a seven-judge Bench. The majority on the Bench was of the view that the entry of Muslim women inside a Mosque, Parsi women into the Tower of Silence and the Dawoodi Bora case are all similar to the Sabarimala case.

The Bench also clubbed the entry of women into Mosques, Parsi women to the tower of silence with the Sabarimala issue. The court also noted that in matters of religious belief courts must tread carefully.

Justice R F Nariman however dissented and said that these are issues for the future Constitution Benches. He said that the original judgment in the Sabarimala case was based on a bona fide PIL, which raised issues of women discriminated against for their entire period of puberty due to a physiological feature.

When the judgment is declared, it is final and binds all. Organised efforts to subvert the judgment should be put down determinedly as this is the judgment of the Supreme Court, Justice Nariman in his dissenting verdict said.