The Karnataka High Court on on March 15 upheld the ban on the wearing of hijab (head scarf) by students in schools and colleges in the State.
What the Court said?
- The Court held that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and is not, therefore, protected under by the right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25 of the Constitution.
- The court said it was a reasonable restriction that was constitutionally permissible.
- The court also upheld the legality of the Karnataka government’s February 5, 2022, order prescribing guidelines for uniforms in schools and pre-university colleges under the provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, after a row over hijab in Udupi and other districts.
- The court said that school uniform will cease to be a uniform if hijab is also allowed.
- The judgment was delivered by a three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice J.M. Khazi, while rejecting all the petitions filed by nine Muslim girl students of two government pre-university colleges in Udupi district.
Four questions and their answers
The court asked itself four questions and decision was based on the answers of those questions:
- Whether the wearing of the hijab is essential religious practice under Islam: The bench said wearing of hijab was not part of essential religious practice under Islam.
- Whether the prescription of school uniform is violative of rights: Ans-School uniform is a reasonable restriction that students can’t object.
- Whether the Feb 5 government order (which barred students from wearing clothing that could ‘disturb peace, harmony, and law and order), apart from being incompetent and manifestly arbitrary, violates Articles 14 and 15: Ans-The government has the power to issue an order.
- Whether there is any case to be made out for issuance of disciplinary inquiry against college authorities: Ans-No case is to be made out for issuance of a direction for intimating disciplinary inquiry.
