New Delhi, April 22 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sharpened its scrutiny of the limits of religious autonomy, asking whether the Constitution can remain a silent spectator if a devout believer is barred from approaching or touching a deity solely on account of birth or lineage, as it heard the reference arising out of the Sabarimala temple entry review. Raising fundamental questions on the interplay between faith, equality and constitutional guarantees, a nine-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant repeatedly returned to a central concern : when practices rooted in faith impose permanent disabilities on believers, does the Constitution step in to correct the imbalance, or must courts defer entirely to denominati...