'De facto' stay on SC Sabarimala verdict: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Law Minister A K Balan on Sunday said there was a "de facto" stay of the Supreme Court's September 28 order on Sabarimala women's entry issue and the state government could act only on the basis of the court's verdict.

Amid tight security, thousands of devotees offered prayers at the Lord Ayyappa temple when it opened for the annual two-month-long Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage on Saturday, though police said 10 women were sent back from Pamba base as they were in the "barred" age group.

The five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi had on November 14 in a 3:2 verdict decided to refer the issue to a larger bench to re-examine religious issues including those arising out of its 2018 verdict lifting a centuries-old ban on women of menstruating age visiting the hill top shrine.