Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 13 (UNI) The Supreme Court will take up a batch of 49 review petitions against its verdict allowing the entry for women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the world famous Lord Ayyappa temple on Tuesday at 1500 hrs.
The batch of 49 petitions will be taken up for consideration in-chamber by a bench of CJI Ranjan Gogoi and Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra.
Besides, three fresh writ petitions will also come up for hearing in an open court before a bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and KM Joseph on Tuesday morning.
The court will take up the review petitions seeking the reversal of its earlier order by a five-member constitutional bench on September 28, 2018, in a case filed by Indian Young lawyers Association in July 2006.
Earlier, the Chief Justice had fixed November 13 as the day to decide on taking up the review petitions.
Though the case was initially heard by a three-member judge, later it was left for the five-member constitutional bench which had a lone dissenting voice in the judgment of woman Judge Indu Malhotra.
Though several political parties, including Indian National Congress, Bharatheeya Janatha Party and Communist Party of India (Marxist) welcomed the verdict, people in Kerala especially several lakhs of women took to the streets against the SC verdict.
Later, the BJP in Kerala and the Nair Service Society (NSS) and the BDJS, political party of SNDP, jointly trooped people into streets supporting devotees protesting against the SC order. But, the ruling CPI(M) stood to execute the SC order leading to lathicharge in several places, strike and the arrest of nearly 5,000 people.
The hilltop temple also witnessed several protests when the police tried to ensure the entry for women during its opening for monthly poojas on October 18-22 and a single-day opening on November 5-6.
Following the state-wide protest, the NSS and an organisation of Ayyapa devotees have tried to raise a plea for an urgent hearing on October 23. But, the bench led by CJI wouldn't hear it and postponed the hearing to November 13.
The temple will be opened for the two-month annual 'Madalam Makaravilakku' festival on November 16 at 1700 hrs.
The writ petitions were filed by G Vijayakumar, S Jaya Raj Kumar and Shylaja Vijayan.
The review petitions were filed by those including NSS, Sabarimala Chief Priest Kandararu Rajeevaru, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, PC George, B Radhakrishna Menon, VHP state president SJR Kumar.
UNI DS SB 1343