Sabarimala Reference | Art 25(2)(b) Mentions Throwing Open Of Only Temples Since Caste System Is Not In Other Religions : Justice Nagarathna

During the ninth day of the Sabarimala reference, the Justice BV Nagarathna of the Supreme Court orally commented that Article 25(2)(b) of the Constitution, which allows the making of laws to throw open Hindu public temples to all classes of Hindus, was consciously enacted to address the caste-based exclusion prevalent in the society then.

The Judge commented that the provision did not mention other religions since such exclusion was prevalent only in Hinduism.

She made this comment in the context of an argument raised by a lawyer that allowing Article 25(2)(b) to prevail over Article 26 (which guarantees denomniational rights) would lead to discrimination, as laws can be made concerning only Hindu denominations. The lawyer pointed out that as per the Explanation to Article 25, the definition of Hinduism includes Buddhism and Jainism. This would mean that such laws would cover only Hindu, Buddhist and Jain denominations, while excluded Muslim, Christian and Parsi denominations.

Responding to this, Justice Nagarathna said that there is no exclusion in the other religions. She stated that since there is no caste system in other religions, there is no need for other religions to be included in Article 25(2)(b).

She said: "Except Hindu religion, there is no exclusion. That is why the constitutional framers were conscious of the fact that Hindu temples would not... particularly the depressed classes, as they were called earlier. Depressed classes or caste, such a thing, caste system, is not there in other religions."

"They[the framers] were conscious of the realities of the Hindu society," she added.

The advocate responded that divisions are prevalent in other religions as well.

Today, the Court concluded the hearing of the side which supports the review petitions against the 2018 judgment which allowed the entry of women of all ages to the Sabarimala temple.

The Court heard a wide range of lawyers today - Advocate Nizam Pasha, Senior Advocates Sridhar Potaraju, Nachiketa Joshi, Madhavi Divan, Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, VK Biju, Fauzia Shakil, MR Abhilash, Krishna Raj, C Rajendran, Senior Adv V Chitambaresh, Mathews J Nedumpara and various other lawyers.

Arguments by respondents to start tomorrow.