NEW DELHI: THE Supreme Court on Saturday came out with the list of eight cases that will be heard by a constitution bench beginning on January 17.
A five-judge constitution bench will first hear the case related to the constitutional validity of Aadhaar, in which various interim applications were filed seeking relief from the government’s orders linking the Aadhaar number with various services and welfare schemes.
Though the composition of the benches hearing these cases is not known, it would be interesting to see if Chief Justice Dipak Misra includes the most senior judges in a constitution bench.
A five-judge bench will also examine whether the 150-year-old provision on adultery in the Indian Penal Code, which treats only women as victims and the man as the offender, can be amended.
Another contentious issue to be heard by the apex court will be related to the ban on the entry of women aged 10 to 50 years in Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple. The Travancore Dewaswom Board justifies the restriction on the entry of women on the ground that the deity, Lord Ayyapa, is celibate, and says that a 1,000-year-old custom and religious practice cannot be interfered with.