Tagging a woman’s right to enter the famous Sabarima- la temple with her men- strual cycle is unreasonable, the Supreme Court’s Consti- tution Bench observed on Wednesday. The Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, asked whether the exclusion of women aged between 10 and 50 from entering a tem- ple because they are consi- dered ‘impure’ amounts to the practice of untouchabili- ty, a social evil abolished by law. The CJI said there is no concept of “private mandirs (temples).” Once a temple is opened, everybody can go and offer prayers. Nobody can be excluded. The Chief Justice noted that the Saba- rimala temple drew funds from the Consolidated Fund, had people coming from all over the world and thus, qualified to be called a “public place of worship.” A batch of petitions has challenged the prohibition on women of a certain age group from entering the Sa- barimala temple. Sabarimala temple bar unreasonable: SC ‘Why tag entry with menstruation?’ Krishnadas Rajagopal NEW DELHI The Sabarimala temple is a public place of worship, the Supreme Court noted. ‘NOBODY HAS AN EXCLUSIONARY RIGHT OF ENTRY’ A PAGE 7