The Supreme Court on Monday lambasted the Travancore Devaswom Board for its stand on restricting the entry of women of menstruating age, and said that such discrimination was unfair.
According to media reports, the court asked: “Is menstruation a tool to measure the purity of women? How will you measure the purity of men?”
The court added, “How can a natural process be used to discriminate against women?” The court added that it was neither restriction nor ban as only women between 10 and 50 years of age were not allowed into the temple.
It added that rituals could be acceptable only when there was no discrimination.
The Devaswom Board said that discrimination between men and women happens not only in temples but also in churches and mosques. Even in army appointments, women are discriminated against, the board told the court.
The judges also lambasted the board's stand that women would be in danger because of the wild animals in the jungle, and said that the women were there to worship.
It was in 2006 that the Young Indian Lawyers’ Association had filed a PIL with the Supreme Court regarding the entry of women.