Hijab ban: Student files plea in Supreme Court

On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court in a decision that remarkably affected female muslim students. The decision held that wearing of hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam.  

Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices JM Khazi, and Krishna Dixit comprises a bench and held that the petitioners “miserably failed” to show beyond doubt that wearing of the hijab was an inalienable practice of Islam, much less an essential one. The Karnataka High court held that:  

• Hijab is not a part of essential religious practices of Islam;  
• Requirement of uniform is a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a);  
• The government has the power to pass the GO; no case is made out for its invalidation.  

Later the petitioner filed a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court’s Hijab judgment.  

The Niba Naazha a student from Karnataka filed an appeal through advocate Anas Tanwir.  The appeal noted that the Karnataka High Court “failed to note that the right to wear a Hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.“  

“A perusal of the scheme of the Act reveals that it aims to regulate the institutions, rather than the students. Sections 3 and 7 of the said Act provide the State Government with the powers to inter alia regulate education, the curriculum of study, medium of instruction, etc.

However, neither of these provisions empowers the State Government to prescribe a uniform for the students,” the petition said. It also takes on that the Karnataka High Court failed to note down the fact that the right to wear a Hijab comes under the ambit of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.  

Previously this verdict has heated the state of Karnataka, later Section 144 was imposed in Bangalore and educational institutions were kept closed after the hijab row verdict. As the Karnataka High Court gave a decision in favor of the Government decision, many political leaders like Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti, and Assaduddin Owaisit have stated their disappointment regarding the verdict. 

Published by: Shivani Bhalke

Edited by: Subbuthai Padma