The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned down a request for an urgent hearing of a review petition against its September 28 order allowing women of all age groups entry into the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, reported Live Law.
“The review petition will be listed in the usual course,” said a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph in response to the request for an early hearing before the Supreme Court goes on vacation on October 12.
The bench considered the submission of Shylaja Vijayan, president of the National Ayyappa Devotees Association, which filed the review petition with the Nair Service Society on Monday. The Nair Service Society is a body of Kerala’s influential Nair community.
The petition sought an interim injunction on the ground that the temple is set to reopen for devotees on October 16, reported Bar & Bench. It added that the Supreme Court’s order was a “gross abuse of a procedure named public interest litigation”.
According to the review petition, the verdict has “sent shock waves among millions of Ayyappa devotees” and since the petitioners in the original case were not devotees of Ayyappa, they had no reason to approach the court.
While the Left Democratic Front government in the state has decided to implement the judgment immediately, it has faced opposition from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has accused the Congress and the BJP of playing divisive politics and said the two parties were trying to inflame communal passions.
On Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said he was ready to hold discussions, but insisted that the Supreme Court verdict judgement will have to be implemented first. “Filing a review petition is against the stand [of the top court],” he had said. “It is the responsibility of the government to implement the verdict of the Supreme Court. It is not the policy of the government to fight with believers. Their interest will be protected. Government is ready for discussion.”
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