Supreme Court to hear Sabarimala review pleas on Feb 6

The Supreme Court will hear a slew of review pleas against its order allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple complex on February 6.

The top court order of September 28, 2018, setting aside a temple rule, which disallowed women in the reproductive age groups between 10 and 50 years, hasn’t gone down well with conservative sections in Kerala. It has also become a political hot potato with the Left government in the state backing the ruling and the BJP opposing it. Several women have since visited the temple which houses a bachelor deity.

Several review petitions have been filed urging the constitution bench which gave the ruling to review its decision. The bench was headed by former CJI Dipak Misra who has since demitted office.


The bench is now headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi. The other members of the bench are Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra. It was initially listed for hearing in January, 2019, but could not be heard due to the unavailability of Justice Malhotra ,who was away on sick leave. She has since rejoined duty.

At least 19 review petitions have been filed against the ruling in which Justice Malhotra famously used the diversity logic to dissent against the majority verdict on the ground that courts should not sit in judgement over religious practices unless these are as abhorrent as sati.

The temple management is also expected to place its views on the issue before the bench. Some women who have entered the temple have also moved the court urging it to take steps to ensure that entry was seamless. All these issues will now be taken up by the CJI led five-judge bench. Reviews typically go to the same bench and are hence usually rejected.