Tradition can’t justify ban on women’s entry to Sabarimala: SC

Denying women the right to enter and pray in the Sabarimala temple in Kerala cannot be justified on basis of traditions which violated constitutional principle, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

“You cannot deny entry of women based on traditions which are against the principles of the Constitution,” a three-judge Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said. The Bench also comprising Justices V Gopala Gowda and Kurian Joseph, did not agree, for the time being, with the contention that the plea seeking entry of women into the temple be referred to a five-judge Constitution Bench. “In case we feel later that substantial questions of constitutional importance are there, then we may refer it to the Constitution Bench,” it said.