SC hearing on Sabarimala LIVE: Nine-judge Bench to hear pleas on religious discrimination against women

A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to commence from April 7 the final hearing on petitions relating to discrimination against women at religious places, including Sabarimala Temple, and on the ambit and scope of religious freedom practised by multiple faiths.

Also read: Kerala govt moderates Sabarimala stance, seeks Supreme Court decision after views of scholars and reformers In September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench, by a 4:1 majority verdict, had lifted the ban that prevented women between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the Ayyappa shrine at Sabarimala in Kerala and held that the centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional.

However, in 2019, another five-judge bench headed by the then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, referred the issue of discrimination against women at various places of worship to a larger bench.

Meanwhile, the Union government has told the Supreme Court that a straight-jacket definition of what constitutes a ‘religious denomination’ or which religious practices are ‘essential’ would “compress” the inherently plural nature of Hinduism expressed through diverse sects, groups, spiritual lineages, regional traditions, faith, practices, rituals, customs and beliefs.