New Delhi, Apr 10:
Everybody must have access to all temples and ‘maths’ and excluding a denomination will negatively affect Hinduism and divide the society, the Supreme Court on Thursday said.
The remark by a nine-judge bench Constitution bench came while hearing petitions related to discrimination against women at religious places, including the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala, and on the ambit and scope of religious freedom practised by multiple faiths.
The bench comprises Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices B V Nagarathna, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan, and Joymalya Bagchi.
Senior advocate CS Vaidyanathan, appearing for organisations including the Nair Service Society, Ayyappa Seva Samajam, and Kshetra Samrakshana Samiti, submitted that a denominational temple can give permissive rights and have worship or confine it only to the denomination.
At this juncture, Justice Nagarathna remarked, “There is one apprehension. If you say the right of entry, in the context of Venkataramana Devaru, where they said anybody other than Gowda Saraswat Brahmin is excluded, it will affect negatively Hinduism.” She added, “Everybody must have access to every temple and math. Keep aside the controversy in Sabarimala judgement. But if you say it is a practice and it is a matter of religion that I will exclude others and only my section, my denomination will attend temple and nobody else. That is not good for Hinduism. Let the religion not be adversely affected. It will be counter productive for the denomination.” Concurring, Justice Kumar said such exclusion will divide the society.
Vaidyanathan submitted that if temples serve only their denomination, they cannot seek funds either from the state or private donors or from the public because they are not dependent on them.