New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear a petition seeking permission for Muslim women to enter mosques to offer prayers. A bench headed by Justice S A Bobde issued notice to the Centre and asked it to respond to the plea filed by a Pune-based couple. The bench told the counsel appearing for the petitioners that it will hear the matter because of the apex court's judgment in the Sabarimala temple case. "The only reason we may hear you is because of our judgment in the Sabarimala temple case," it said.

On September 28 last year, a five-judge constitution bench headed by then chief justice Dipak Misra, in its 4:1 verdict, had paved the way for entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination.