NEW DELHI: A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Monday said it will examine larger issues like barring women from entering mosques and temples to genital mutilation among Dawoodi Bohras and the banning of Parsi women who marry interfaith from entering the Fire Temple, instead of hearing review pleas in the Sabarimala verdict that lifted the age bar on entry of women.
The bench headed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said it will not decide anything on the Sabarimala review petition, but deliberate on the larger issues pertaining to the matter. “We are not hearing review petitions, we are only hearing the seven questions referred to a larger bench by the fivejudge bench.”
The seven issues include interplay of freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, need to delineate the expression ‘constitutional morality’, the extent to which courts can enquire into particular religious practices, meaning of sections of Hindus under Article 25 and whether ‘essential religious practices’ of denomination or a section thereof are protected under Article 26.
During the hearing, several lawyers told the bench that the referred questions were too broad and need fine-tuning.