Karnataka girl students approach SC seeking permission to wear hijab in exam

New Delhi, Jan 23: A group of girl students approached the Supreme Court on Monday, requesting for interim directions to permit the Muslim girl students to appear for exams wearing Hijab.

The Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandarchud, and Justices V Ramasubramanian and JB Pardiwala said that the a date would be fixed for hearing soon.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, representing petitioners, said that an interim order was needed keeping in mind the practical examinations, scheduled for some classes from February 6 in Karnataka. "This is the headscarf matter. The girls have practical examinations from February 6, 2023 and this matter needs to be listed for interim directions so that they can appear. The practical examinations will be held in government schools," PTI quoted the lawyer as saying.

"I will examine it. This is a three judge bench matter. We will allot a date," the CJI said.

The counsel, appearing for the students, said that they have lost one academic year and they had to move to private institutions after the government Pre University Colleges banned hijab.

The controversy had broke out in Udupi last year after a government college banned Muslim girls from wearing hijab. There were protests in Udupi and several other districts over the issue in Karnataka. The matter reached the Karnataka High Court which dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi seeking permission to wear Hijab inside classrooms, saying the headscarf is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.

Later, the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the issue.

The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi had further noted.

A two judge bench of the Supreme Court had on October 13, last year delivered opposing verdicts in the hijab controversy, and urged the Chief Justice to constitute an appropriate bench to adjudicate the case that stemmed from a ban on wearing of Islamic head covering in Karnataka schools.

While Justice Hemant Gupta, since retired, had dismissed the appeals challenging the March 15 judgement of the Karnataka High Court which had refused to lift the ban, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia held there will be no restriction on the wearing of hijab anywhere in the schools and colleges of the state.

Permitting a community to wear its religious symbols to schools will be an "antithesis to secularism," Justice Gupta had said, while Justice Dhulia insisted that wearing the Muslim headscarf should simply be a "matter of choice."

With the Supreme Court delivering a split verdict, the high court's judgement still holds the field. However, the split verdict held off a permanent resolution of the row over hijab as both judges suggested placing the matter before a larger bench for adjudication.

Several appeals were filed in the Supreme Court against the verdict.

With inputs from PTI