Clarify whether 2 women who made it to Sabarimala are genuine devotees: Kerala HC

Mangalore Today News Network

Kerala, Jan 09, 2019: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Tuesday asked the State government to clarify whether there was any ‘hidden agenda’ in facilitating the visit of two young women to Sabarimala in the early morning of January 2, 2019.

The Bench of Justice P.R. Ramachandra Menon and Justice N. Anilkumar passed the directive when a report filed by the High Court-appointed panel of observers regarding the entry of the two young women came up for hearing.

The court asked the State government to clarify whether the young women were genuine devotees. The court orally observed that it had been a smooth pilgrimage for Ayyappa devotees. In fact, the number of pilgrims visiting the temple had gone up recently and there was absolutely no problem at Sabarimala.

The court said Sabarimala was a place for pilgrimage and not a place for ‘demonstrations’ of the police or the government or any other activist. The court wanted to know whether the visit of the two young women was an attempt to create problems and put the blame on the government and the police.

The court said if the government could not come out with satisfactory clarifications, the court might have to consider ordering a probe by Central agencies into the issue. The court criticised the police for allowing the vehicle of the Manithi group to ply from Nilackal to Pampa despite a court order banning operation of private vehicles on the route.

Courtesy:The hindu