Sabarimala women entry case: Were you the ‘Chief Minister’; what was your ‘business’, Supreme Court asks lawyers’ body

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) asked what was the “business” of the NGO, Indian Young Lawyers Association, to question the prohibition of women of menstruating age from entering the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple.

At one point, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading the nine-judge Bench hearing the Sabarimala review petitions, asked “were you the Chief Minister of the country?”

The Association was the original writ petitioner which challenged the prohibition on entry of women aged between 10 years and 50 years into the Kerala temple. The case dates back to the year 2006 in the Supreme Court.

SC says no religion superior to the other; TDB argues entry of ‘fertile’ women antithetical to Sabarimala deity

The case initiated by the Association had culminated in the last decade with a five-judge Bench upholding the right of women of all ages to enter and worship at the temple. The 2018 judgment headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra (now retired) had compared the bar on women to the practice of untouchability.