Sabarimala-Linked Case Before Top Court Bench Impacts Other Religions Too

Updated: Apr 28, 2026 20:44 pm IST Published On Apr 28, 2026 20:42 pm IST Last Updated On Apr 28, 2026 20:44 pm IST

Published On Apr 28, 2026 20:42 pm IST

Last Updated On Apr 28, 2026 20:44 pm IST

When the doors of Sabarimala were opened for all women, a question rang across the corridors of the Supreme Court and the country: Will the courts open gates of all religious institutions to women? There are many mosques that restrict the entry of women, also temples where women are not allowed in the sanctum sanctorum while men can.

The ideal answer to this question would be yes, open the gates of all religious institutions to all individuals belonging to the faith or denomination, to men and women equally. The Centre, however, has argued before the nine-judge Supreme Court Bench that this shall be antithesis to plurality within faiths and denominations and disproportionate judicial interference in religious institutions.A court should not interfere in any religious practices, the Centre has argued. The moment a country realises something is a religious practice, it must not adjudicate upon the correctness or the essentiality of the practice. The denial of entry to women of child-bearing age in Sabarimala temple is part of 'diversity' within religion, the Centre maintained, citing  instances of temples where men are not allowed.

But the matter before the nine judges is bigger than Sabarimala. 

Two crucial petitions have been tagged with this matter. The first pertains to the Dawoodi Bohra community and the other is about the rights of Parsi women. The case of Parsi women was an appeal against the Gujarat High Court order where it was held that a Parsi woman loses her religious identity when she marries outside the........

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