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Hijab row: Plea moved in Supreme Court after Karnataka HC upholds ban

Hijab row: Plea moved in Supreme Court after Karnataka HC upholds ban Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint

The plea challenging ban on Hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka has been moved to the Supreme Court of India, after the appeal was dismissed by the Karnataka High Court, news agency ANI reported.

Karnataka High Court today dismissed petitions challenging a ban on Hijab in education institutions in the state. 

The Karnataka High Court cited the fact that wearing Hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam. The bench also noted that no case is made out for invalidating the Government Order of 5 February.

The Udupi and Shivamogga district administrations had decided to keep the schools and colleges shut on Tuesday, as the Karnataka HC was scheduled to deliver a verdict on the plea challenging Hijab ban in state educational institutions, to avoid any untoward incidents.

"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out portion of the order. The other two judges in the panel were Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi. The bench also maintained that the government has power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation. By the said order, the state government had banned wearing clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges.

The court also rejected the plea to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against the college, its principal and a teacher. "In the above circumstances, all these writ petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be and accordingly are dismissed. In view of the dismissal of the writ petition, all the pending applications fell into insignificance and are accordingly disposed off," the bench said in its order.

Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru, said all types of gatherings, agitations, protests, or celebrations in public places are prohibited in the city for one week from 15-21 March.

The hijab protests in Karnataka began in January this year when some students of Government Girls PU college in the Udupi district of the state alleged that they had been barred from attending classes. During the protests, some students claimed they were denied entry into the college for wearing hijab.

Following this incident, students of different colleges arrived at Shanteshwar Education Trust in Vijayapura wearing saffron stoles. The situation was the same in several colleges in the Udupi district.

The pre-University education board had released a circular stating that students can wear only the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious practices will be allowed in colleges.

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