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.…