The Karnataka High Court has pronounced its verdict in the hijab case filed by Muslim girl students. The court, as per its order, has stated that the hijab is not an essential practice of the Islamic faith, and therefore, all the petitions filed by Muslim girl students seeking permission to wear hijab in educational institutions stands dismissed.
CJ Ritu Raj Awasthi: “ Getting the wholistic view of the entire matter,
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) March 15, 2022
1) Whether #Hijab is an ERP protected under Article 25
2) Whether school uniform is not legally permissible
3) Whether the GO of 5th February is issued without application of mind and is arbitrary
The verdict was pronounced by the Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court. The court stated that taking a holistic view of the entire matter, they formulated a few questions and answered accordingly to decide on the case. The questions were whether wearing a hijab is an essential religious practice in the Islamic faith protected under Article 25 and whether the prescription of a school uniform is violative of rights. The court further sought an answer to a question that whether the Government Order of February 5 apart from being incompetent and manifestly arbitrary violates Articles 14 and 15.
We are of the opinion that Government has power to issue GO, we are of the the opinion no case is made out to initiate disciplinary enquiry against college authorities. All writ petitions are dismissed #HijabRow #KarnatakaHijabRow
— LawBeat (@LawBeatInd) March 15, 2022
The court found that wearing of hijab is not the essential religious practice of the Islamic faith and the prescription of a uniform is a reasonable restriction on fundamental rights. The court further stated in the order that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of February 5.
The detailed order of the court is awaited
Karnataka hijab row
Some Muslim students at Karnataka’s Pre University College petitioned the High Court to be allowed to attend lectures while wearing the hijab. They were denied admission to courses because the hijab is not part of the college uniform and so cannot be worn in class, according to the college administration. The students have been demonstrating while wearing burqas since then.
After meeting with the Campus Front of India (CFI), the student branch of the Islamist organization Popular Front of India (PFI) in October 2021, Muslim students began wearing hijab and burqa to school and college in violation of uniform requirements in December 2021. The students confessed that they had spoken with the CFI.
