Renowned actor and Karnataka Minister for Women and Child Development Jayamala Ramachandra welcomed the SC verdict on Women entry in to famous shrine in Kerala. She told the reporters in Bengaluru on Friday that it was victory for women and “ we have got justice today”.
It was in 1986 she courted a controversy by entering the Sabarimala temple which so far barred entry to women. In 2006, a famed astrologer, P Unnikrishna Panicker, conducted a temple-centric yegna called 'Devaprasnam' and declared having found signs of a woman's entry into the temple sometime ago. Subsequently, Jayamala admitted that she had entered the temple way back in 1986. A complaint was filed in this regard and case was on in Kerala High Court. However, the high court quashed the charge sheet filed by the police on the basis of astrological findings in 2012.
"There is no happier moment in my life other than this. I thank the women community, Supreme Court judges and God today...I also thank Ambedkar who wrote our Constitution," Jayamala told reporters. She said she had expected such a judgement and credited the country's legal system and Constitution for it. "Women have got justice today. This is a historic moment," the Minister added. She said she is a staunch devotee of Ayyappa, the popular deity of Sabarimala temple.
In land mark judgement, putting an end to a centuries-old tradition, the Supreme Court Friday ruled that women, irrespective of age, can enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple.
A five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, said that the provision in the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship (Authorisation of Entry) Rules, 1965, which authorised the restriction, violated the right of Hindu women to practice religion.
It also said that patriarchy in religion cannot be allowed to trump the right to pray.
The bench, which also comprised Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra had reserved its verdict in the case on August 2 this year. Four judgments were delivered on Friday. However Justice Malhotra, who penned a dissenting verdict, said the petition does not deserve to be entertained.
Reading out a majority 4:1 verdict CJI Dipak Misra said women were equally entitled to worship and that the rule which prevented the entry of women of the 10 to 50 age group went against the right to worship of Hindu women and the right to equality.The court said it could not allow patriarchy to overwhelm religion as it would be violative of the right of worship of women.
Many petitions had challenged the ban, which was upheld by the Kerala High Court. The HC had ruled that only the “tantri (priest)” was empowered to decide on traditions.
The petitioners, including Indian Young Lawyers Association and Happy to Bleed, argued in court that the tradition is discriminatory in nature and stigmatised women, and that women should be allowed to pray at the place of their choice.