The Centre on Thursday backed the restriction on the entry of women of menstruating age into Kerala’s Sabarimala temple, saying that the top court’s 2018 judgement proceeds on the assumption that men are superior and women are on a lower pedestal. 

A nine-judge Constitution bench is hearing petitions related to discrimination against women at religious places, including the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, and on the ambit and scope of religious freedom practised by multiple faiths. The top court said that everybody must have access to all temples.