Religion must mend itself to stay relevant, say women who entered Kerala temple to enforce right to worship under a 2018 verdict; religious practices must harmonise with social reform, they say
Syed Altamash Nizami says the faith of a believer cannot yield to the whim of a third-party interloper or a tourist to walk into the sanctum sanctorum
Senior representative of erstwhile royal family criticises government in Supreme Court for not being firm in opposing petitions filed by non-believers questioning the age-old rituals of Sabarimala temple
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan says a judge cannot be identified with his personal religion when asked to examine a matter of faith and conscience
Nine-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant continues hearing on Sabarimala entry issue
The judge says the question whether a stranger to a denomination could question a practice in a public interest petition ought to be taken up as the first issue to be decided by the Sabarimala Bench
Centre on Tuesday said that the issue of restriction on the entry of women aged between 10 and 50 years at the temple falls within the domain of religious faith
Legislature, not courts, is entitled to enact social reform, the Centre responds; as the Union government argues whether the judges have the expertise to decide on the matter, the court says it is empowered to examine opinions of experts.
Centre objects to 2018 ruling drawing parallels between the Sabarimala bar on menstruating women and the practice of untouchability; S-G claims India is not as patriarchal or gender-stereotyped as the West understands
The Supreme Court of India has now begun final hearings in the long-running Sabarimala case. A nine-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant is hearing a batch of petitions that go beyond just one temple. At the core, the court is looking at a much larger question. To what extent can courts intervene in matters of religion? And what exactly counts as an essential religious practice under Article 25 of the Constitution?
The Bench has said it would also examine the "scope and extent of judicial review," concerning a religious practice as referred under Article 25 of the Constitution