New Delhi: The Supreme Court directed Friday the Kerala Police to provide round-the-clock security to two women who had entered the Sabarimala temple.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices LN Rao and Dinesh Maheshwari said it was only going into the aspect of security of the two women and would not like to entertain any other prayer made in the petition. The bench also refused to tag the matter along with the pending petitions in the Sabarimala case.
It was hearing the petitions of 42-year-old Bindu, a college lecturer and CPI(ML) activist from Kozhikode district’s Koyilandy, and Kanakadurga, 44, a civil supplies department employee from Angadipuram in Malappuram, who had entered the Sabarimala shrine, January 2.
“We deem it appropriate to entertain this writ petition by directing the Kerala Police to provide adequate security round the clock to petitioner number 1 (Bindu) and petitioner 2 (Kanakdurga). Beyond that we don’t want to go into any of the issues mentioned in the petition,” the bench said.
Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, appearing for the Kerala government, said it was already providing adequate security to these women and other devotees who have entered the Sabarimala temple. He said till now 51 female devotees have entered the shrine.
Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara appearing for some petitioners, who have filed a review plea challenging the decision of the top court to allow women of all ages to enter the temple, said that none of the female devotees has entered the Sabarimala shrine.
The bench, however, refused to go into all these issues and said that if the Kerala government was already providing security to the female devotees without the court’s order then there is no harm if the government continues providing adequate security even after the court’s order.
Earlier this month, the two women had stepped into the hallowed precincts guarded by the police, more than three months after the apex court’s historic judgment lifting the ban on the entry of girls and women between 10 and 50 years of age into the shrine of Lord Ayyappa.
PTI