Supreme Court sets up nine-judge bench to review Sabarimala temple entry verdict

The Supreme Court on Saturday notified the setting up of a ninejudge bench to review reexamine the longpending Sabarimala temple entry matter along with a batch of connected cases that raise larger constitutional questions on the scope and ambit of religious freedom practised by multiple faiths across the countryThe bench headed by Chief Justice of India CJI Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi B V Nagarathna R Mahadevan M M Sundresh Ahsanuddin Amanullah Aravind Kumar A G Masih and Prasanna B Varale is scheduled to commence hearings from April 7In 2018 a Constitution Bench of the apex court permitted the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa striking down the centuriesold practice that barred women between the ages of 10 and 50On November 14 2019 a fivejudge Constitution Bench led by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi by a 32 majority held that the issues arising in the review petitions against the Sabarimala judgment were not confined to the temple alone but raised broader and recurring questions of constitutional interpretation concerning the interplay between the right to equality and the right to freedom of religionThe Court identified a set of overlapping constitutional issues that also arose in other pending matters These included i the permissibility of restricting the entry of Muslim women into mosques particularly the challenge to practices that bar women from offering prayers in certain Islamic places of worship ii the validity of the practice of Female Genital Mutilation among the Dawoodi Bohra community examined in light of dignity and essential religious practices and iii the rights of Parsi women who marry outside the community to enter Parsi Fire TemplesThe majority observed that these cases raised common constitutional questions such as the scope and ambit of the essential religious practices doctrine the extent to which courts can judicially review religious customs claimed to be integral to a faith the balance between individual fundamental rights particularly equality dignity and nondiscrimination under Articles 14 and 15 and the collective rights of religious denominations under Articles 25 and 26 and the permissible limits of exclusionary practices in religious spacesSubsequently a ninejudge Constitution Bench on February 10 2020 upheld the decision of the Sabarimala Review Bench to refer to a larger Bench broad questions concerning the interplay between essential religious practices equality and constitutional morality across faithsIn February 2026 the top court had while fixing a schedule for the hearings notedA ninejudge bench shall commence hearing in these matters on April 7 2026 Tuesday at 1030 AM The review petitioners or the parties supporting them shall be heard from April 79 April 2026 The original writ petitioners opposing the review petitioners shall be heard on April 1416 2026 The rejoinder submissions if any will be heard on April 21 2026 followed by the final and concluding submissions by the learned amicus which is expected to be over by April 22 The parties shall adhere to the above time schedule The nodal counsels in consultation with arguing counsel of the parties shall prepare the internal arrangement so that oral submissions from both sides can be heard within the stipulated timelineThe Union of India Centre along with other parties are supporting the review petitions effectively challenging the 2018 ruling that allowed the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala templeThe original writ petitioners now respondents in the review proceedings are opposing the review pleas and seeking to uphold the 2018 judgmentThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever