The repression of women under the garb of "physiological factors" cannot be legitimised and patriarchy in religion cannot "trump over" devotion, the Supreme Court ruled Friday as it threw open the closed gates of the historic Sabarimala temple for women of all age groups.
Penning his last verdict of a five-judge constitution bench, Chief Justice Dipak Misra, who would demit office on October 2, rejected the vehement submissions of the Travancore Devaswom Board, which runs the temple, and ruled that the devotees of Lord Ayyappa are "exclusively Hindus" and do not constitute a "separate religious denomination".
The historic verdict, which would add force to clamour for equality for women of other religions, extensively dealt with Article 25 (1) which was referred to by the Temple Board and the devotees in support of the practice of barring entry of girls and women between the menstrual age of 10 and 50 years.
Sabarimala is a prominent Hindu temple which attracts tens of millions of pilgrims every year. The hill-top shrine remains open only for a little over four months in a year and the approach is through a forested area that involves an arduous 5-km trek from the Pampa river base camp.
In a landmark verdict, the apex court Friday lifted a ban that prevented such girls and women from entering the famous Sabarimala temple in Kerala, holding this centuries-old Hindu religious practice as illegal and unconstitutional.
The CJI, who wrote 95 page-verdict for himself and Justice A M Khanwilkar, said that on the ground of public order, morality and health, women cannot be barred from practising and professing the faith.
Observing that historically women have been treated with inequality, the majority verdict said "in the theatre of life, it seems, man has put the autograph and there is no space for a woman even to put her signature."