The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved the verdict on a batch of petitions seeking review of its September 28, 2018, judgment that allowed women of all age groups to enter the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi heard submissions on behalf of parties, among them the Kerala government, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Nair Service Society and others.
The Kerala government has tried to implement the Supreme Court order but it was met the resistance of Hindutva forces.
The BJP has supported these forces. Several women who tried to enter Sabarimala since last year's verdict were attacked.
The Kerala government had earlier told the Supreme Court that 51 women have entered Sabarimala since the verdict. It later said only to women between the age of 10 and 50 years had managed to enter the shrine.
Amminni Bindu and Kanakadurga, both in their forties, had entered the shrine on January 2. After finding out that they had entered the shrine, the chief priest of the temple did purification rituals.
Women contacted each other on social network groups and formed teams to go to the temple on a hillock in the Periyar reserve but most of them had to leave because of the violence.