Supreme Court delivers split verdict on hijab ban: Case now referred to CJI

Hijab ban: The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a split verdict on a slew of petitions challenging the ban on wearing of hijab by Muslim women and girls, in Karnataka’s educational institutes. The hearing in the Apex court over the matter spanned over 10 days. The final order was reserved on September 22 by a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia.

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Today Justice Hemant Gupta upheld the ban and ruled hijab is not an essential religious practice while Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia struck down the ban saying education of girl child is most important.

Referred to CJI

Following the split verdict, the matter has now been referred to Chief Justice of India UU Lalit for constituting a larger bench.

On Thursday, as the verdict was read out, Justice Hemant Gupta affirmed the Karnataka High Court order in March, while Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia quashed the state government's order on wearing of the headscarves.

Following the split verdict, the matter has now been referred to Chief Justice of India UU Lalit for constituting a larger bench.

The arguments raised during the hearings earlier included that Muslim girls may stop attending classes if the the ban on wearing of headscarves continues.

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The BJP-led government in Karnataka has insisted that the order is “religion neutral''. Massive protests were witnessed in Karnataka over the government order.

Massive protests

The controversy broke out when the Government PU College in Udupi was accused of stopping girl students who wore hijab, from entering classrooms. The protests , which started in Udupi, also spread to other parts of the state, and then captured the nation's attention.

One of the petitions in the Supreme Court had alleged "step-motherly behaviour of government authorities which has prevented students from practicing their faith and resulted in an unwanted law and order situation".

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