Verdict will strengthen our belief, says Sabarimala chief priest after SC ruling

New Delhi, Nov 14: Kandararu Rajeevaru, head priest of the Sabarimala temple on Thursday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to refer its September 28, 2018 order allowing women of all ages into the Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala to a larger bench.

"This gives us hope. This will strengthen the beliefs of devotees," the chief priest said.

The Supreme Court on Thursday said restrictions on women in religious places were not limited to Sabarimala alone and was prevalent in other religions as well as it referred all review pleas to a larger seven-judge bench.

The bench opined 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.

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.

Kerala witnessed violent protests after the LDF government decided to implement the Supreme Court verdict of September 28 last year allowing women of all age groups to offer prayers at the shrine.

The shrine will be open from November 16 and the annual two-month-long pilgrim season will begin from November 17.