Supreme Court Dismisses Petition To Allow Muslim Women Entry To Mosques, Says Can’t Hear A PIL By An Unaffected Party

The Supreme Court(SC) has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by by a Hindu Mahasabha leader challenging the prohibition against Muslim women to enter mosques. In its judgment, the court ruled "We will hear when a Muslim woman comes to us. Can't entertain a PIL by an unaffected party" Live Law has reported.

Siding with a judgment given by the Kerala High Court (HC), the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi remarked “Let a Muslim woman challenge it.”

The petitioner, Swamy Dethathreya Sai Swaroop Nath, is the President of the Kerala unit of the Akhil Bharath Hindu Mahasabha  who filed the PIL right after the Sabarimala verdict  that led to huge protests.

The Kerala HC dismissing the Mahasabha’s plea and called it “publicity exercise” and that the bench was of the opinion that the PIL was lacking “substantial evidence of the claim that women were being denied entry into mosques”.

The Kerala HC further observed “The averments in the writ petition do not suggest that the petitioner is a person who should be ordinarily concerned with the rituals and practises of Islamic religion and, in particular, the alleged denial of entry of Muslim women in masjids. He has also not satisfactorily established his credentials as a person who has a history of espousing such causes before superior courts in our country.”