Over 16 days of hearings in the Sabarimala temple entry reference case, a nine-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court repeatedly grappled with a constitutional question far larger than the issue of women’s entry into the one temple.

With the bench, comprising CJI Surya Kant , Justices B V Nagarathna , M M Sundresh , Ahsanuddin Amanullah , Aravind Kumar , Augustine George Masih , Prasanna B Varale , R Mahadevan , and Joymalya Bagchi, reserving its verdict on May 14, after a marathon hearing, it may redefine the relationship between constitutional morality, social reform, and denominational autonomy .

On Day 16 of the hearing, the Centre, represented by Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta , argued that Article 25(1), which guarantees freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion, does not itself provide for gender equality.

“Article 25(1) does not provide for gender equality for the simple reason that Articles 15 and 16 already prohibit discrimination on…