2018 Sabarimala verdict not final: CJI says Supreme Court will hear activist Bindu Ammini’s plea next week.

Source – indiatoday.in

With protests on at the Sabarimala temple of Lord Ayyappa, CJI SA Bobde on Thursday said last year’s judgment allowing entry of women of all age into the Kerala temple is “not the last word”. The court will be hearing a petition moved by activist Bindu Ammini next week.

The Supreme Court made the remark on Thursday while hearing a petition moved by gender activist Bindu Ammini who was attacked last month when she tried to enter the Sabarimala temple along with activist Trupti Desai.

CJI Bobde said, “There is a larger bench now. The September (2018) verdict is not the final word in this issue.”

Activist Bindu Ammini was attacked in Kochi with chilli and pepper spray when she tried to enter the Sabarimala temple on November 26.

The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde accepted the petition of senior advocate Indira Jaising that Bindu Ammini was attacked outside the office of the police commissioner when she tried to enter the Sabarimala temple.

“Bindu was attacked with some chemical substance right outside the office of Commissioner of Police,” Jaising said. She also said that the Kerala state authorities are not allowing women to enter the temple despite the Supreme Court’s specific order allowing women of all age to enter the temple.

A five-judge Constitution bench, by a majority of 4:1 in its verdict delivered in September last year, had allowed women of all age groups to visit the Lord Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala in Kerala, saying that discrimination on physiological grounds was violative of fundamental rights like the Right to Equality.

However, the court has now accepted review petitions against the 2018 verdict and said a larger bench will hear the matter.