The Kerala High Court has accused the state’s CPI (M) led Left Democratic Front government of being selective and adopting double standards when it comes to implementing Supreme Court judgements.

The court noted that despite an apex court order, a section of devotees were physically prevented from offering prayers at a church when the same government had deployed thousands of police at Sabarimala to ensure that the SC verdict that allowed women of all ages to offer prayers at the Ayyappa temple was implemented. It is a different matter that the presence of more than 20,000 police has not deterred hardcore devotees from ensuring that the centuries old tradition of keeping out women of menstruating age is not violated.

It was a bench comprising of Justices PR Ramachandran Menon and Deven Ramachandran that said the government was adopting double standards while considering a petition by the Orthodox  faction of the Malankara Syrian Church who sought protection for offering prayers at the St Peter’s and Paul’s church at Piravam. The apex court had ruled that the Orthodox faction could offer prayers at the temple but the members belonging to the rival group, the Jacobite faction stopped them.  The bench asked the Advocate general why the SC’s orders were being implemented selectively.

Earlier too, the government had been accused of double standards when dealing with the majority and minority community. While the chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan was swift in responding that his government was duty bound to implement the SC verdict on Sabarimala, after the apex court gave its verdict on the church, the government filed a plea in the Kerala HC seeking more time to hold talks aimed reconciliation.

—India Legal Bureau