Overview
- The Supreme Court, which issued the notification on Saturday, named a nine-judge bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant to start hearings on Tuesday, April 7, with an aim to finish by April 22.
- The bench will revisit the “essential religious practices” doctrine and seven core questions on Articles 25 and 26, including what counts as morality, how far courts may review religious practices, and who may file challenges to them.
- The reference now spans disputes across faiths, including Dawoodi Bohra excommunication and female genital cutting, access for Parsi women who marry outside the faith, and entry of Muslim women into mosques and dargahs.
- Religious bodies have sought to intervene, with the Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti urging courts not to decide what is essential to a faith unless public order, morality or health is at stake, and Jain groups and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board pressing for internal autonomy.
- The Centre, through Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, supports the review petitions, and the Court has set slots for arguments by review petitioners on April 7–9, opponents on April 14–16, rejoinders on April 21, and closing submissions on April 22.