The Supreme Court on Tuesday admitted for consideration a plea by a couple to lift the ban on Muslim women's entry into mosques across the country.
“The only reason we may hear you is because of our judgment in Sabarimala temple,” a Bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and S. Abdul Nazeer remarked orally. The court issued notice to the government and various bodies, including the National Commission for Women.
In September last, a Constitution Bench of the court lifted the age-old ban on women of menstrual age, between 10 and 50 years, entering the famed Sabarimala temple in Kerala. The decision created an uproar. Multiple review petitions were filed, heard and reserved for judgment. The court had held that the Sabarimala ban amounted to discrimination and even the practice of untouchability. Women had equal right to worship in a “public” temple.
The court had also played a key role in facilitating the entry of women into the sanctum of the Haji Ali dargah in Mumbai.