Sabarimala Row: SC Accepts Intervention Petition by Rajya Sabha MP

MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s petition asks for the divinity of a deity to be protected and not be brushed aside.

Women are banned from entering Sabarimala, Shani Temple, and the Haji Ali dargah. (Photo: The Quint)

The Supreme Court, on Monday, accepted the intervention petition filed by Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar on the Sabarimala Temple row. The SC will hear his petition after hearing the petitions filed by Kerala Government and the Devasom Board.

The intervening petition filed on behalf of the several lakh devotees is in continuation to fight against the entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where the heavenly deity presides.

The petition states that Hinduism has a “diverse range of beliefs and rituals which cannot be reduced to scientific exactitude.”

Pointing out the vast differences in terms of acceptable rites and traditions observable in various parts of the country, often with regard to the same deities, Chandrasekhar states that there are several temples that only allow women to enter.

...it is not only religious principles or fundamental beliefs which are sought to be protected under Article 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India, but...even acts done in pursuance of practice of a religion is also protected under Article 25 of the Constitution of India. It is urged that the constitutional morality leans heavily in favour of cultural autonomy and that the freedom to practice any religion must mean that what is intrinsic to the divinity of a deity is protected and cannot be brushed aside at the expense of the right of faith of the devotees.

Excerpt from Rajeev Chandrasekhar’s Petition