New Delhi : Taking a swipe at religious customs and temple entry
restrictions violating women's constitutional rights, the Supreme Court
on Monday said no temple or governing body could bar a woman from
entering the Sabarimala shrine in Kerala where lakhs of devotees throng
every year.
" Why can you
not let a woman enter ? On what basis are you prohibiting women entry...
What is your logic ? Women may or may not want to go ( to worship at
Sabarimala ), but that is their personal choice," Justice Dipak Misra,
heading a three-Judge Special Bench, said, pulling up the Travancore
Devaswom Board, which manages the temple.
Court asks for proof
When the board countered that the prohibition was based on custom
followed for the past half-century, Justice Misra asked what proof ti
had to show that women did not enter the sanctum sanctorum over 1,500
years ago.
The Constitution rejects discrimination on the basis of age, gender and caste, he orally observed...
( Page 1, Chennai edition of " The Hindu "* Tuesday, January 12, 2016 ).
Courtesy : M.P.Subrahmanian. 
