Ayodhya case: AIMPLB says it will file a review petition against SC verdict

AIMPLB counsel Zafaryab Jilani said the members had collectively resolved to do so, since the order did not do justice to the Muslim parties

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said it had decided to file a review petition against the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya title suit. Addressing journalists after its working committee meeting here, AIMPLB counsel Zafaryab Jilani said the members had collectively resolved to do so, since the order did not do justice to the Muslim parties.

He said 35-40 of the Board’s 51 members were present when the resolution for a review was approved. He declined to comment on any dissenting opinion. Jilani cited Islamic jurisprudence as prohibiting any acceptance of other land in lieu of the disputed site. Which, he asserted, legitimately belonged to the mosque demolished on December 6, 1992. The Board has said under Shariah or Islamic law, Muslims may not accept any compensation for the mosque, whether land or other forms.

Jilani referred to the Sabarimala case from Kerala, wherein the SC had recently referred its earlier verdict in the case — pertaining to entry of women within a specified age group inside the shrine — to a larger seven-judge bench, Jilani said the Ayodhya case similarly merited a review, to dispense justice for Muslims. Also, that no single party could claim to be the main plaintiff, as there were a total of nine parties to the title suit case.

Some of those plaintiffs, apart from some prominent Muslim figures, have recently advised against filing of a review petition, to foster communal harmony. Instead, they have advised, focus on other pressing issues facing the community, including education and health. “The Board does not indulge in any kind of politics and we are only trying to fight for the fundamental rights as guaranteed under the Indian Constitution,” Jilani said.

Women’s entry at Sabarimala: Supreme Court refers matter to larger bench

Five judge bench rules by 3:2 majority, Justices Chandrachud and Nariman dissent

A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a larger bench pleas seeking a review of its 2018 ruling that allowed menstruating women from entering the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.

Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice A M Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra said a larger bench will hear if the court can decide matter of religious practice. Justices R F Nariman and DY Chandrachud gave dissenting opinion.

The bench said petitions had “sought to revive the debate about what’s the religion and essential religious practices”. “Individual right to pray at temple cannot be superior to what is considered as religious by another sect is what petitions have argued,” the court said, according to News18.com.

The court had on September 28, 2018, scrapped a ban on women and girls between 10 and 50 from at the temple, ruling that a centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional. The verdict comes two days before the temple opens for the two-month-long pilgrimage season from November 16. The court’s verdict sparked protests across Kerala, mainly led by caste outfits like the NSS and right-wing Hindu organisations of the Sangh Parivar…

Read More: Sabrimala Temple

Sabarimala temple updates: Shastras can be amended, says Subramanian Swamy

BJP, RSS, Congress and Hindu groups are up in arms against SC ruling lifting the ban on entry of women in Sabarimala Temple. Catch top developments at Business Standard

The gates of Sabarimala are set to open today. Tension prevailed in the morning in Kerala’s Nilackal after the police used force to disperse devotees opposing the entry of girls and women of menstrual age into the hill shrine. Acting tough, the police, deployed in large numbers in Nilackal, some 20 kms away from the Sabarimala hilltop, also removed a makeshift shelter erected by a protesting group Sabarimala Achara Samrakshana Samiti. The protesting group of devotees had been staging a sit-in chanting Ayyappa mantra in the shelter in protest against the Supreme Court order permitting women of all age groups to enter the shrine. The BJP, RSS, Congress  (BS)and Hindu groups are up in arms against a September 28 Supreme Court ruling lifting the ban on entry of women in the 10-50 age group into the temple, saying it will breach age-old traditions.

Here are top 10 developments on Sabarimala temple row

1. Police detain people protesting against the entry of women in the age group of 10-50 women to Sabarimala Temple.

2. Subramanian Swamy backs SC decision

Supreme Court has made a decision, but now you are saying that it’s our tradition. Triple Talaq was also a tradition in that way, everybody was applauding when it was abolished. The same Hindus have come to the streets now, said Subramanian Swamy.

It’s a fight b/w Hindu Renaissance and obscurantism. Renaissance says all Hindus are equal& caste system should be abolished. Because no Brahman today is only intellectual, they’re in cinema,business as well. Where is it written that caste is from birth?Shastras can be amended, he added.

| Business Standard |