CJI to take a call on urgent listing of Karnataka Hijab case amid looming exams

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday said that he will take a call on listing the Hijab case from Karnataka to consider the plea made by the Muslim girls seeking interim relief to allow them to attend exams in the government colleges.

The case was mentioned before Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud by advocate Shadan Farasat who said that the girls are unable to appear for exams due to the ban on hijab in government colleges. "I will take a call on this," the CJI said.

On January 23, the CJI had agreed to consider the request for urgent listing, after Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora mentioned the urgency of examinations, which are held in government colleges.

Arora pointed out that most of the girl students have migrated to some private colleges in view of the continuing prohibition by the state government on wearing of hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka.

The top court had in October 2022 delivered a split verdict on the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka - one judge affirmed that the state government is authorised to enforce uniform in schools, while the other called the hijab a matter of choice that cannot be stifled by the state.

While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the Karnataka High Court Court, which refused to lift the ban and held that the hijab is not part of the "essential religious practice" in Islamic faith, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the pleas and said wearing the hijab is ultimately a "matter of choice".

However, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia differed from the senior judge on the bench and allowed all the appeals. Reading out the operative part of his judgment, Justice Dhulia said the wearing of hijab is "ultimately a matter of choice, nothing more, nothing less".

"The main thrust of my judgment is that this entire concept of essential religious practices, in my opinion, was not essential for disposal of the dispute," he said.

Stressing that his focus was on education of the girl child, especially in rural areas, Justice Dhulia observed, "Are we making her life any better." While allowing the appeals against the high court verdict, Justice Dhulia said he has quashed the state government's February 5, 2022 order banning clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges.