Supreme Court to begin 9-judge bench hearing on Sabarimala review from April 7

The Supreme Court will hear the Sabarimala issue from April 7. A 9-judge bench of the Supreme Court will commence hearing issues related to the Sabarimala temple from April 7 and conclude on April 22. A three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant today issued orders to this effect.

Post Published By: Karan Sharma

Updated : 16 February 2026, 3:02 PM IST

Supreme Court of India

New Delhi: The Supreme Court today stated that a separate 9-judge bench will commence hearing the issues referred in the Sabarimala review from April 7, 2026. A three-member Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant today passed these orders. The hearing is proposed to be concluded on April 22.

Bench Composition to Be Notified Separately

The composition of the 9-judge bench will be notified separately by the Chief Justice through an administrative order to take up the highly debated Kerala Sabarimala temple issues.

The parties supporting the review of the Sabarimala judgment will make arguments from April 7 to 9, while the parties opposing the review are given dates from April 14 to 16 for arguments. The rejoinder submissions will be on April 21, and the hearings are expected to conclude by April 22.

Background of the 2018 Judgment

Today, the three-judge bench was dealing with a batch of review petitions and writ petitions arising out of the Supreme Court's September 2018 judgment, which allowed women of menstruating age to enter the Lord Ayyappa temple. Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta told the bench today that the Central Government was supporting the review of the judgment.

It may be recalled that in November 2018, the Supreme Court, by a 4:1 majority, permitted the entry of women of all age groups into the Sabarimala temple, holding that “devotion cannot be subjected to gender discrimination.”

The judgment held that Lord Ayyappa devotees would not constitute a separate religious denomination. Rule 3(b) of the Kerala Hindu Places of Public Worship Rules, 1965, which prohibited the entry of women in Sabarimala, was also struck down as unconstitutional. Criticising this decision, a batch of review petitions and writ petitions were later filed.