The petitions challenging the ban on wearing hijab in the educational institutions in Karnataka have been listed before the Supreme Court on Monday (August 29) - the first working day of the new Chief Justice of India UU Lalit - over three months after they have been filed.The petitions, which challenge the March 15 judgment of the Karnataka High Court which upheld the hijab ban, were not...
The petitions challenging the ban on wearing hijab in the educational institutions in Karnataka have been listed before the Supreme Court on Monday (August 29) - the first working day of the new Chief Justice of India UU Lalit - over three months after they have been filed.
The petitions, which challenge the March 15 judgment of the Karnataka High Court which upheld the hijab ban, were not listed at all during the term of the previous CJI NV Ramana, despite several rounds of mentioning made by different lawyers seeking urgent posting.
On Monday, a bench comprising Justices Hemnt Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia will hear a batch of 23 petition which challenge the hijab ban. Some of them are writ petitions filed directly before the Supreme Court seeking the right to wear hijab for Muslim girl students.
On August 2, Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora had mentioned the matter before the then CJI NV Ramana, who then assured to constitute a bench soon.
Two weeks back, on July 13, Advocate Prashant Bhushan had mentioned the matter for urgent listing, saying the petitions have not been listed since March and that the students are facing difficulties. The CJI had then agreed to list the case the next week.
The SLPs has been filed against the judgment dated March 15 passed by the High Court of Karnataka, upholding Government Order dated 05.02.2022, which has effectively prohibited Petitioners, and other such female Muslim students from wearing the headscarf in their Pre-University Colleges. A Full Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna Dixit and Justice JM Khazi held that wearing of hijab by women was not an essential religious practice of Islam. The Bench further held the prescription of uniform dress code in educational institutions was not violative of the fundamental rights of the petitioners.
Case : Fathima Bushra versus State of Karnataka WP(c) 95/2022 and connected cases.