Kerala High Court holds special Saturday sitting to hear challenge to caste barrier for appointment as Melshanthi at Sabarimala temple

The Kerala High Court convened a special sitting on Saturday to hear a batch of pleas challenging the caste requirement mandated by the Travancore Devaswom Board for appointment to the post of Melshanthi (High Preist) of the Sabarimala Temple..A division bench of Justices Anil K Narendran and PG Ajithkumar heard the petitioners at length through the day and posted the matter for further hearing to the Saturday after next, December 17, 2022. On the next date, the respondents, the Travancore Devaswom Board and the State government, are expected to conclude their arguments.This was also the first time the Kerala High Court live-streamed its proceedings on YouTube. .The Travancore Devaswom Board, through a notification dated May 27, 2021, had called for applications to the post of Santhikkaran at Sabarimala Dharmasastha Temple and Malikappuram Temple, from among Malayala Brahmin community members alone.One of the pleas, filed in July 2021, through advocate BG Harindranath, challenged this notification on the ground that it is in total disregard to Supreme Court judgments on the point and Articles 14, 15, 16, 17 and 21 of the Constitution of India.Harindranath put forth his arguments today based on the recruitment rules of the Travancore Devaswom Board.Subsequently, Dr. Mohan Gopal, appearing for some of the other petitioners, argued on how the notification fell foul of the Constitution. Gopal contended that restriction of Melshanthi recruitment to Malayala Brahmins was more a question of violation of the constitutional bar against practicing untouchability, rather than that of violating the right to equality.He pointed out that the Sabarimala temple is non-denominational, i.e, it is for all Hindus and that the right to be a priest without a caste barrier is intrinsically linked to the right to enter and worship the temple without any discrimination on the basis of caste. His primary contention was that the decision of the Supreme Court in N Adithayan v The Travancore Devaswom Board & Ors., is binding on the High Court. In N Adithayan, the top court had upheld the right of a non-Malayala Brahmin to be appointed as a priest of a Shiva temple that was under the administration of the Travancore Devaswom Board. The same board administers the Sabarimala temple as well."Sabarimala is a temple where people of all castes and creeds go, so then why this restriction. We must rid Sabarimala temple of this practice of untouchability," Gopal argued..[Read our live coverage of the hearing today]