Supreme Court Forms 9-Judge Bench to Review Sabarimala, Religious Freedom Cases

The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi, B V Nagarathna, R Mahadevan, M M Sundresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, A G Masih, and Prasanna B Varale, is scheduled to commence hearings from April 7.

In 2018, a Constitution Bench of the apex court permitted the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple dedicated to Lord Ayyappa, striking down the centuries-old practice that barred women between the ages of 10 and 50.

On November 14, 2019, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by then CJI Ranjan Gogoi, by a 3:2 majority, held that the issues arising in the review petitions against the Sabarimala judgment were not confined to the temple alone, but raised broader and recurring questions of constitutional interpretation concerning the interplay between the right to equality and the right to freedom of religion.

The Court identified a set of overlapping constitutional issues that also arose in other pending matters. These included: (i) the permissibility of restricting the entry of Muslim women into mosques, particularly the challenge to practices that bar women from offering prayers in certain Islamic places of worship; (ii) the validity of the practice of Female Genital Mutilation among the Dawoodi Bohra community, examined in light of dignity and essential religious practices and (iii) the rights of Parsi women who marry outside the community to enter Parsi Fire Temples.

The majority observed that these cases raised common constitutional questions, such as: the scope and ambit of the "essential religious practices" doctrine; the extent to which courts can judicially review religious customs claimed to be integral to a faith; the balance between individual fundamental rights, particularly equality, dignity, and non-discrimination under Articles 14 and 15, and the collective rights of religious denominations under Articles 25 and 26; and the permissible limits of exclusionary practices in religious spaces.

Subsequently, a nine-judge Constitution Bench on February 10, 2020, upheld the decision of the Sabarimala Review Bench to refer to a larger Bench broad questions concerning the interplay between essential religious practices, equality, and constitutional morality across faiths.

In February 2026, the top court had, while fixing a schedule for the hearings, noted,

"A nine-judge bench shall commence hearing in these matters on April 7, 2026 (Tuesday) at 10:30 AM. The review petitioners or the parties supporting them shall be heard from April 7-9, April 2026. The original writ petitioners opposing the review petitioners shall be heard on April 14-16, 2026. The rejoinder submissions, if any, will be heard on April 21, 2026, followed by the final and concluding submissions by the learned amicus, which is expected to be over by April 22. The parties shall adhere to the above time schedule. The nodal counsels in consultation with arguing counsel of the parties shall prepare the internal arrangement so that oral submissions from both sides can be heard within the stipulated timeline."

The Union of India (Centre), along with other parties are supporting the review petitions, effectively challenging the 2018 ruling that allowed the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple.

The original writ petitioners (now respondents) in the review proceedings are opposing the review pleas and seeking to uphold the 2018 judgment.

- ANI