The left Front Government in Kerala defended the ban on entry of women into the sanctum sanctorum of Sabarimala temple but emphasised that the ban needs to be tested on the constitutional principles of right to equality and religious freedom, both issues which are being hotly debated in Supreme Court by women activists on one hand and the Devaswom Board on the other hand.
While women of menstrual age (10 to 50 years) are prohibited entry in the Sabarimala temple, the Supreme Court had questioned the authorities running the temple on whether such a ban posed issues of gender inequality. In the year 2007, the same left Democratic Front (lDF) Government in Kerala had pitched for removing the ban. An affidavit was filed to this effect which got reversed by the Congress-led UDF government which filed a fresh affidavit supporting the ban.
Following fresh elections in the state, the bench of Justices Dipak Misra, C Nagappan and R Banumathi asked senior advocate V Giri on the stand of the present government. He said that as on date, the state supports the affidavit filed by his predecessor government but emphasized that the constitutional issues needs to be gone into.
Eminent lawyers such as K Parasaran, KK Venugopal and Indira Jaising are appearing in this case, the contours of which are yet to be decided. The bench, while posting the case for hearing on November 7, hinted at the possibility that if need be, the matter may even travel to a constitution bench.