Kochi: The state govt has placed an affidavit before the high court opposing a petition filed by a transgender person from Tamil Nadu seeking permission to visit Sabarimala , citing the pendency of cases before the Supreme Court concerning the entry of young women into the temple.
The petition stated that on Aug 20, when the petitioner reached Pamba for Sabarimala darshan, the police allegedly intercepted her and told her that transgender persons could not proceed to the shrine pursuant to a directive issued by the TDB. She further submitted that she had been allowed to complete the pilgrimage, including darshan at Sabarimala, on two earlier occasions — Jan 3 and April 15. In an affidavit filed by devaswom secretary M G Rajamanickam, the govt pointed out that the petitioner identifies herself as a transgender woman and is referred to as ‘she’ in the petition. The affidavit stated that the legal issues concerning entry regulations, customary practices and essential religious rites at the Sabarimala shrine had been specifically raised in a petition filed by Kantaru Rajeevaru, which is pending before a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. The devaswom board and temple administration are bound to preserve core ritualistic practices and long-standing traditions pending an authoritative judicial determination by the larger bench, it stated.