Sabarimala women entry; SC seeks possibility of forming nine-member bench

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has sought the possibility of forming a nine-member constitution bench to consider Sabarimala women entry issue. Supreme Court Chief Justice Surya Kant in an interview to a daily said the matter is under consideration.

There is a possibility of an important decision on the issues of religious freedom and women's rights, and whether the court should intervene in religious practices to ensure gender equality. However, it is not clear when the bench will start hearing the arguments. In addition to the Sabarimala entry of women, the nine-member bench will consider the entry of women in mosques. A nine-member bench headed by the then Chief Justice S A Bobde was formed in 2019 to consider the issue of the entry of women.

Although the hearing began on January 13, 2020, except for Gavai and Surya Kant, all seven members of the bench retired. Gavai did not agree to reconstitute the nine-member bench and hear the arguments. With Surya Kant becoming the Chief Justice, the bench is likely to become active again.

The Supreme Court delivered the historic verdict allowing the entry of women in Sabarimala on September 28, 2018. The five-judge bench that later considered the matter referred the petitions to a larger bench for consideration. The Sabarimala women's entry issue came to the court after the high court considered a letter sent by S Mahendran to a judge of the high court in 1990 as a public interest litigation.