While hearing the petitions on whether prohibiting women on the grounds of biological factors was discriminatory and violative of the Constitution, Supreme Court today said that there is no logic and rationale behind denying women entry into the Kerala Sabarimala temple premises.  Lawyer Abhishek Singhvi while explaining the rationale behind not allowing women between 10-50 years, said, "The nature of the deity, history of the temple is such that women in their menstruating age are not allowed inside the Sabarimala temple. The temple permits from inception men from all castes and religions, Muslims, Christians are all allowed."

He further questions, "Why should they want to visit only Sabarimala? There are other Ayyappa temples as well", to which Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra replies saying, "Because they believe in that. There are many Jagannath temples, but people throng Puri, There are many Jagannath temples, but people throng Puri. It is a matter of choice." The bench rises for the day, and the next hearing session will be on coming Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Apex Court reprimanded the authorities for not allowing women aged between 10-50 years to enter, and pointed out that it was against the Constitutional mandate. The bench  hearing the case, comprises of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 19, 2018 01:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).