Sabarimala Temple: Arun Jaitley sees SC verdict on all-age women entry in the temple as a selective ruling on matters of faith

Commenting on the Supreme Court judgment allowing women of all ages to enter the Sabarimala temple, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that the courts must be uniform in looking at practices of all faiths.

At Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, senior BJP leader said “If you want to take a progressive step. Articles 14 and 21 (of the Constitution) will apply against all religions”.

Explaining further his stand on the issue, Jaitley said “It cannot happen that you select a practice and apply it because that will have social consequences. If you start stepping into the religious practices and customs and say Article 14 must be tested on personal law, then will it apply to polygamy? Will it apply to oral divorces? Will it apply to other religions where women are not allowed to enter religious places?”.

Calling for being uniform in the matter of faith, he said “If you are being progressive and bold then it must be uniformly so and that doesn’t seem to be happening”.

The statement came in the backdrop of the government is pushing an ordinance to criminalize triple talaq. But the ordinance faced block in the Rajya Sabha.

His comment also reflects the stand on the court ruling on allowing women in the age group of 10-50 years to enter the temple.

Jaitley also disagreed with portions of SC’s recent judgment on gay sex (Section 377) and adultery.

Supporting the striking down the adultery law, he said “Now will it cover bigamy and polygamy also? Will it cover cruelty? Will it cover dowry offences — if this was the case, the judgment would be wholly anti women”.