Supreme Court to decide on Karnataka hijab ban today

Hijab ban: Supreme Court will today announce its judgement on the petitions challenging Karnataka High Court verdict on the hijab ban in classrooms. A two-judge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia will pronounce the verdict at 10.30am. The court had reserved its decision in the matter on September 22 after hearing extensive arguments by the petitioners as well as the state.

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The HC while holding that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions, also upheld an order issued on February 5 by the state, which suggested that wearing hijab can be restricted in government colleges where uniforms are prescribed, and ruled that such curbs under norms for college uniforms are “constitutionally permissible”.

Step-motherly behaviour

Various petitioners have approached the apex court challenging the Karnataka HC order upholding the Karnataka government`s order which directs strict enforcement of schools and colleges` uniform rules. One of the appeals in the top court has 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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Right to conscience

Some of the Muslim students approached the SC and said the “right to wear hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution”. They contended that the right to wear hijab is protected by ‘right to conscience’ under Article 25 of the Constitution, which is an individual right, and that the HC ought not to have applied the ‘Essential Religious Practices Test’.

The Hijab row erupted in January this year when the Government PU College in Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering the college. The girls sat in protest outside the college over being denied entry. After this, boys from several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing saffron scarves. This protest spread to other parts of the state as well leading to protests and agitations in several places in Karnataka.

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