The chief justice of the Karnataka High Court, Rituraj Awasthi, said on Wednesday that the interim order passed by the court on 10th February 2022, that prohibits students from wearing religious dresses in the classrooms, will apply to both degree colleges as well as pre-university colleges where a uniform code is prescribed. The court further clarified that the order is applied only to the students and does not apply to the teachers.
A three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court is hearing the hijab case, where some Muslim girls have filed petitions against the state govt order banning religious attire including hijab and burqa in classrooms. Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi is heading the bench while Justice Krishan S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi are the other two judges on the bench. The bench clarified this at the end of the hearing on Wednesday.
This order was clarified by the bench in response to the applications moved by the students of a private college in Udupi named Bhandarkar College of Arts and Science. The students were seeking clarification on the extent of the interim order passed by the court. Advocate Mohammed Tahir submitted that the colleges which do not have a prescribed uniform, are also citing the interim order of the court and are stopping Muslim students who wear hijab. He also mentioned that these colleges had earlier allowed headscarves.
Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi said, “Our order is clear, it only applies to institutions with a uniform. If the uniform is prescribed it has to be followed, whether it is degree college or PU College. We are making it very clear, wherever, whether it is degree college, government college or under-graduate, where uniform is prescribed, it has to be followed, so long as the matter is pending before the Court.”
Tahir further submitted that the colleges are asking even the teachers to remove the hijab. To this, Chief Justice Awasthi responded, “The order confines to students only.” The bench further cleared it saying “We make it clear that this order is confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code or uniform.”
It is notable that schools and colleges in Karnataka have been in unrest since the last December over the Muslim girl students wearing hijab despite a prescribed dress code. The Karnataka hijab row has then spread in various parts of the nation and has shown its political reflections even in the ongoing assembly elections of five states.