SC directs protection for two women who entered Sabarimala

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Kerala government to provide adequate and full security to two women who had entered Sabarimala's Lord Aayappa shrine triggering widespread outrage and protests across the state.

A bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Dinesh Maheshwari directed protection be provided to Kanaka Durga and Bindu Ammini, even as it refused to tag their petition with the batch of review petitions that are likely to be taken up for hearing on January 22.

The court in its order today said, "Kerala to provide adequate/full security to the petitioner (Bindu Ammini and Kanaka Durga) which would be provided to the petitioners round the clock."

"Beyond that we don't consider it necessary to go into any of the other issues," Chief Justice Gogoi said in the order.

The court also rejected the plea by senior counsel Indira Jaising appearing for Bindu Ammini and Kanaka Durga to tag the petition with the review petitions and other connected cases.

The Kerala government told the court that it has already provided security to the two women and added that ever since the Constitution Bench judgment of September 2018 lifted the ban on the women between age groups of 10 to 50 entering the Sabarimala temple, 51 women have already entered done so.

"You are responsible for their life and security. If you care doing without our order, continue doing it," CJI Gogoi told senior counsel Vijay Hansaria who appeared for Kerala.