New Delhi, July 18: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reprimanded the authorities for prohibiting the entry of women between the age group of 10-50 years in Kerala Sabarimala temple. The Apex Court was hearing petitions on whether prohibiting women on the grounds of biological factors was discriminatory and violative of the Constitution. According to an ANI report, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra has said, "On what basis you (temple authorities) deny the entry. It is against the Constitutional mandate. Once you open it to the public, anybody can go."

Justice DY Chandrachud further remarked, "Your right as a woman to pray is equal to that of a man and is not dependent on a law to enable you to do that." According to reports, the State of Kerala through advocate Jaideep Gupta has made it clear that it is supporting the entry of women.

The court has been hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the ban on entry of women into the hill temple, situated in the Pathanamthitta district. The top court had earlier referred the petition seeking the lifting of the ban on entry of women who are in their menstruating years to the temple, to a Constitution Bench on October 13 last year.

The bench  hearing the case, comprises of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.

(With inputs from ANI)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 18, 2018 03:29 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).