The Supreme Court on Monday sought response from the Karnataka government on pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state. A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia issued notice to the state on the pleas and posted them for hearing on September 5.
The bench pulled up some of the petitioners, who sought adjournment in the matter, and said it would not permit "this kind of forum shopping". Several petitions have been filed in the apex court against the Karnataka High Court verdict holding that wearing of hijab is not a part of the essential religious practice which can be protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.
The high court had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Women’s Pre-University College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear hijab inside classroom. The batch of pleas against the Karnataka High Court's verdict in the hijab case was filed before the Supreme Court in March 2022, shortly after the High Court delivered its verdict in the case.
A three-judge Karnataka High Court bench dismissed pleas by students against a ban on wearing the hijab (headscarf) in their classrooms. The High Court held that hijab is not an essential practice under Islam and that uniforms are reasonable restriction to fundamental rights. The court added that educational institutions have a right to prescribe dress codes and students must adhere to the same.
The High Court plea followed a controversy that began in Udupi’s Women’s Government PU College in December 2021 when the principal of the college disallowed eight students from the college from attending classes over their insistence on wearing the hijab in the classroom. Of these eight students, six students approached the Karnataka High Court on January 31 seeking directions to her college to permit entry into her classroom while wearing a hijab.
In this period, the incident created a furore on social media and drew news reporters and police cars to the government pre-university college located in Udupi. This was particularly after a photograph of the students studying on the staircase in the college was shared widely on social media.