A three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court today upheld the state government’s order banning the wearing of hijab or any religious scarves in government-run educational institutions. Pronouncing the verdict, the HC noted that students cannot object to uniforms, while holding that wearing Hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam.
The HC, thus, upheld the government order effectively banning the wearing of hijab inside educational institutions. The three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi held that requirement of uniform is a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a). They also noted that contrary to the arguments by the petitioner, the government has the power to pass the order and thus no case was made out for invalidating the order.
The High Court had reserved the verdict on February 25 after a marathon hearing that lasted 11 days. The High Court had passed an interim order on the first day of hearing directing students not to wear hijab or saffron shawls or raise religious flags while attending classes.
On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi protested against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms while they were wearing headscarves. They attended a press conference organised by the Campus Front of India (CFI) and made the issue public. This was four days after they urged the principal to grant them permission to wear hijab in classes which was not allowed.
The girls had then approached the Karnataka High Court seeking relief and quashing the government order on February 5 restraining students from wearing any cloth that could disturb peace, harmony and public order. The case first came before a single-judge bench who then referred it to a larger bench. The full bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi was constituted on February 9 to hear the matter.