Desk Correspondent , Thiruvananthapuram - In the ongoing Supreme Court reference on the Sabarimala temple entry case, Justice B.V. Nagarathna remarked that treating women as "untouchables" for three days a month due to menstruation cannot be justified as a religious practice under Article 17 of the Constitution.

The lone woman judge on the nine judge Constitution Bench, responding to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's objections to the 2018 verdict's "untouchability" reference, stated: "Speaking as a woman, there can’t be a three-day untouchability every month and on the fourth day, there is no untouchability." She emphasized that Article 17, abolishing untouchability, cannot apply selectively to women during menstruation.

The hearings, starting April 6, 2026, revisit the 2018 ruling allowing women of all ages into the Kerala temple, alongside issues of religious freedom under Articles 25-26 across faiths. The Centre called the 2018 judgment "wrong," defending essential practices and religious plurality, while the bench probes discrimination at worship sites.