Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia will hear a batch of petitions challenging the ban on wearing Hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka.A batch of 23 petitions is listed before the bench. Some of them are writ petitions filed directly before the Supreme Court seeking the right to wear hijab for Muslim girl students. Some others are special...
Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia will hear a batch of petitions challenging the ban on wearing Hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka.
A batch of 23 petitions is listed before the bench. Some of them are writ petitions filed directly before the Supreme Court seeking the right to wear hijab for Muslim girl students. Some others are special leave petitions which challenge the judgment of the Karnataka High Court dated March 15 which upheld the hijab ban.
The SLPs have been filed against the judgment dated March 15 passed DAY 6by 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.
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Hearing to continue tomorrow at 11 AM. Dave to continue till 1 PM.
Bench says that after Dave's argument, no one else will be allowed from the petitioners' side.
Dave : We may like it or may not like it, but that does not affect their right to wear hijab.
Dave quotes from Ratilal Gandhi case - "in cases of doubt, a the court should take a common sense view".
Can we say from a common sense view that hijab is not an essential practice.
Dave quotes from Ratilal Gandhi case - no outside authority has right to say these are not essential religious practices.
Dave says that Shirur Mutt case does not hold that freedom of religion extends only to essential religious practices and uses the phrase "religious practice" without any qualification.
Dave quotes from Shirur Mutt- freedom of religion extend to not only religious beliefs only but also religious practices. Not "essential" religious practices, Dave highlights.
Dave : If there cannot be essential religious practice test for 25(2)(a), it cannot be there for 25(1).
Justice Dhulia points out that when Shirur Matt judgment rejected the Attorney General's argument about essential practice, it was in the context of Article 25(2)(a) and asks how can it be relevant for right under 25(1).
Dave : Your lordships must give due weightage to the South African court, UK Court, French court. Our court has extensively borrowed from other jurisdictions.
Dave : If a Muslim woman thinks that wearing of hijab is conducive for her religion, no authority, no court can say otherwise.