Hijab verdict: 4 Key questions and their answers by Karnataka high court

Bengaluru, Mar 15: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday ruled that the wearing of the hijab is not an essential practice in Islam. Advocate KV Dhananjay, appearing for the petitioners, said, 'We will move the Supreme Court after the full high court order is out".

The four questions were:

1. Whether wearing hijab/head-scarf is a part of 'essential religious practice' in Islamic Faith protected under Article 25 of the Constitution?

2. Whether prescription of school uniform is not legally permissible, as being violative of petitioners Fundamental Rights inter alia guaranteed under Articles, 19(1)(a), (i.e., freedom of expression) and 21, (i.e., privacy) of the Constitution?

3. Whether the Government Order dated 05.02.2022 apart from being incompetent is issued without application of mind and further is manifestly arbitrary and therefore, violates Articles 14 & 15 of the Constitution?

4. Whether any case is made out in W.P.No.2146/2022 for issuance of a direction for initiating disciplinary enquiry against respondent Nos.6 to 14 and for issuance of a Writ of Quo Warranto against respondent Nos.15 & 16?

What the court said:

1. "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.

2. The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.

3. The bench 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.

4. 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

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by Campus Front of India (CFI) in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into the classroom wearing Hijab. This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear Hijabs in classrooms which was not allowed.

Till then, students used to wear Hijab to the campus and entered the classroom after removing the scarves, the college principal Rudre Gowda had said. "The institution did not have any rule on Hijab-wearing as such and no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Gowda had said.