The Supreme Court on Thursday said a larger seven-judge bench will re-examine religious issue of the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple. After which a chief priest of the temple said that god has heard our prayers.
Rajeevaru Kandarau, the tantri or the main priest of the Sabarimala temple told the Hindustan Times, “God heard the prayers of millions of believers.”
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, reading the verdict on behalf of himself and Justices A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra, said the larger bench will decide all such religious issues relating to Sabarimala, entry of women in mosques and practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community.
The CJI said the endeavour of the petitioners was to revive debate on religion and faith. The apex court, by a majority verdict of 4:1, on September 28, 2018, had lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the famous Ayyappa shrine in Kerala and had held that this centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional.
