Sabarimala judgement of the Hon'ble SC

Sabarimala Judgement of the Hon’ble SC and the surrounding complexities

The aftermath of the Supreme Court decision in the Sabarimala case is essentially concerning if not unnerving. 

Faith is something that cannot be questioned or dissected.  There is strong resentment and disenchantment among the devotees with regard to the Supreme Court judgement.  Thousands of devotees, most among them also being women, are spearheading protests all over Kerala and outside opposing the above judgement. 

The age old customs and religious rituals being judiciously followed by the devotees have now come up for questioning from the constitutional view of fundamental rights and equality. 

The Gordian knot is the conflict between age old religious practice and faith and the inconsistent constitutional protection under Articles 25 and 26.

It is a very serious but a sensitive one, too. 

Kerala, which is always at the forefront as a role model state for the highest literacy rating, is now caught in a whirlwind of increasing unrest and confusion which appears to shake its very foundation.  There is also the danger of this unrest spilling into other states where there are Sabarimala devotees in large numbers. 

This is a situation of an uncompromising divide between deeply hurt religious sentiments and an analytically perfect Court order. 

The Government of Kerala is not helping to resolve the conflict in any way by its attempt at strict action against devotees and demonstrators.

No doubt the Supreme Court judgement is the outcome of detailed analysis and interpretation of previous judgements.  In this context, the lone dissenting order of the woman judge gains significance indicating that there is more than one side to a coin. 

The Supreme Court’s Order is looked upon as final only because we firmly believe that it is incapable of being wrong.   There is no place for any mistake or misstatement since so much study, analysis and discussion has gone into the making of the historic order.

However, there is some truth in what Shri Ashok Kumar Bal, a retired Civil Servant opines.  He says “the Court may not be the appropriate forum to resolve such sensitive issues or disputes. They cannot also assume the role of a theological guide or adjudicator on such issues”. 

As an aftermath of the judgement, countless petitions have now been filed before the Supreme Court.

The Hon’ble Supreme Court is looked upon with great respect and reverence from time immemorial. It was firmly believed that the Indian judiciary, particularly the Supreme Court, is incapable of hasty or shaky judgments.

While reviewing these petitions, it was sincerely and fervently hoped that the Supreme Court will pull off a victory by issuing a studied judicious order that balances equally well both time tested religious sentiments and fundamental rights. 

In matters of religious faith, belief, customs and rituals have existed for centuries without any harm being rendered to the society and they also have the stamp of the widest acceptance of the people at large. 

It needs to be seen that at times, law or logic may not necessarily be the tool to resolve a dispute.  It is the intelligent step of helping faith and law mutually coexist that is expected of the Judiciary. 

The clever knack of making both appear equally represented is what the public looks for in a judicial decision.  But, it is also true that it is this same faith that made the law to stand for it all this while.

Now, the honourable Supreme Court has come out with a considered judgement ordering the Kerala Government to frame a separate law for the management of the Sabarimala Temple by the third week of January 2020.  It also  referred the Sabarimala issue to a larger, seven-member bench after hearing pleas seeking a review of its decision to allow women of all ages into the temple. In September last year, the court held that a centuries-old ban on women and girls aged 10 to 50 was illegal and constitutional. But protesters thwarted most attempts by women to travel to the Sabarimala temple, located northeast of Pathanamthitta in a tiger reserve. 

This judgement I sincerely hope will put to rest all unrest and confusion.