Sabarimala Temple (Kerala Tourism Photo)

New Delhi: Hearing a case of gender discrimination in temples like Sabarimala, the Supreme Court on Thursday said it respects the views of eminent writers and thinkers but cannot rely on information from ‘WhatsApp University’.‘The comments came from a nine-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, which was hearing petitions on the scope of religious freedom among different religions. The bench comprised Justices BV Nagarathna, MM Sundaresh, Ahsanuddin Amanullah, Arvind Kumar, Augustine George Masih, Prasanna B Varale, R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi.During the hearing, senior lawyer Neeraj Kishan Kaul, appearing for the Dawoodi Bohra community chief, referred to an article by Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on judicial restraint in religious relief cases.Responding, Chief Justice Kant said the court respects eminent persons and jurists, but personal opinions are just that.Kaul argued that knowledge from all sources should be welcomed. He said, “If knowledge comes from some source, some country or university, it should be accepted. We are too rich as a civilization to reject knowledge.”Justice Nagarathna, in a light-hearted moment, said: “But not from WhatsApp University.”Kaul replied that he was not concerned with evaluating sources, reiterating that the main thing is to accept knowledge wherever it comes from.A day earlier, the top court had said that it is extremely difficult – if not impossible – for courts to define what is an essential religious practice.In a 4-1 judgment in September 2018, a five-judge Constitution bench had lifted the ban on entry of women aged between 10 and 50 into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, declaring the practice unconstitutional.