Devotees throng The Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple to offer prayers, in Pathanamthitta | Representational image Adjourning the Bodh Gaya Temple Act related case to October 6, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, who led the nine-judge bench in Sabarimala case, hinted that the Sabarimala judgment might be delivered in second half of September or first week of October. This was when the lawyer in the Bodh Gaya case said the larger issues related to the matter may also be answered in the Sabarimala judgment. At this juncture, CJI Surya Kant said, “then we will keep this matter for hearing October first week”. A batch of pleas challenging the constitutionality of certain provisions of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act was listed on August 11 before a bench led by CJI Surya Kant. However, considering the improbability of the same being taken up on account of a part-heard matter (the Shiv Sena case), some counsels mentioned the Bodh Gaya matter, saying that it may be deferred until the nine-judge bench decision in Sabarimala matter comes out. Bodh Gaya case seeks to repeal the Bodh Gaya Temple Act of 1949 and replace it with a centralised law that gives the Buddhist community exclusive management and control over the historic Mahabodhi Temple. A nine-judge constitution bench is to answer seven broader questions of law referred to it by a five-judge Bench in November 2019 while hearing review petitions against its 2018 verdict which allowed women of all ages to enter Sabarimala. The Bench will not directly answer the question whether women of all ages can be allowed to enter the Sabarimala temple or not but will only decide the overarching legal questions regarding religious freedom, scope of judicial intervention in such matters, whether right to religion overrides specific denominational customs and essential religious practices, if devotees of Lord Ayyappa constitute a separate religious denomination etc. Harish V Nair is Senior Editor (Legal) with Times Now TV. In his journalism career spanning 20 years, he has specialised in coverage of Supreme Court ... View More