New Delhi, April 5 -- The Supreme Court on Saturday formally notified the constitution of a nine-judge bench to hear the long-pending Sabarimala review, bringing back to life a constitutional controversy that has remained in cold storage for six years and could reshape the court's approach to religion-rights conflicts. The bench will comprise Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, and justices BV Nagarathna, MM Sundresh, Ashanuddin Amanullah, Aravind Kumar, AG Masih, R Mahadevan, Prasanna B Varale and Joymalya Bagchi. The batch of matters arising out of the review of the 2018 verdict allowing entry of women of all ages into Kerala's Sabarimala temple was last substantively taken up in February 2020. It will now be heard from April 7, with arguments expected to conclude by April 22. To be sure, elections in the southern state are set for April 9, with the hearing scheduled to start during the 48-hour silence period when on-ground campaigning in Kerala will be halted.A three-judge bench led by CJI Surya Kant, and comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, had in February issued procedural directions for the hearing of the reference that has since grown into one of the most significant examinations of religious freedom under the Constitution. The bench had clarified that the directions regarding the constitution and composition of the nine-judge bench would be issued by the CJI on the administrative side - a process now completed with Saturday's notification. The court had noted that pursuant to the 2019 reference order, a nine-judge bench had been constituted. Objections to the maintainability of referring questions to a larger bench during the pendency of review petitions were conclusively decided in February 2020, when the court held that it was competent to refer questions of law to a larger bench even while considering review petitions. With that issue settled, the path now stands cleared for substantive adjudication. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, had submitted that the Centre supports the review petitions....