Sabarimala Temple: Is "purity" based on account of menstruation? Constitution Bench to decide.
The Supreme Court on Friday referred the matter of ban on the entry of women into Kerala's Sabarimala temple to a Constitution bench. A three-judge bench headed by Chief justice Dipak Misra framed several questions including the temple’s restriction on women’s entry, whether this practice amounted to discrimination against the women, to be held by the constitution bench. Another question that demands answer is -whether restricting the entry of women into the temple was violative of their rights under the Constitution. Initially, the LDF government had taken a progressive stand in 2007 by favouring women's entry into the temple, which was overturned by the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) dispensation later. The apex court had in July last year, indicated that it may refer to a five-judge constitution bench the issue of the centuries-old practice of barring entry of women between 10 and 50 years of age in the historic Sabarimala temple. The management of the Sabarimala temple, located on a hilltop in the Western Ghats of Pathanamthitta district, had earlier told the court that the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years was because they cannot maintain "purity" on account of menstruation. -PTC News
