"There Are Supreme Court Judges Wearing Tilak, Pagdi", Says Rajeev Dhawan; "Pagdi Not Equivalent To Hijab", Replies Justice Hemant Gupta

While hearing the batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court's judgment which upheld the ban on wearing hijab by Muslim girl students in some schools and colleges in the State, Justice Hemant Gupta orally remarked that a "pagdi" was not equivalent to a "hijab" and the two could not be compared. 

The oral arguments started with Senior Advocate Rajeev Dhawan stating that the question that arose was whether women should yield to the dress code prescribed by the government and whether wearing a headscarf was an "essential religious practice". To elaborate further upon his argument, he stated that even in the Supreme Court, there were judges wearing tilak, pagdis etc. He stated that–

"The question is if a dress code can be imposed. In Supreme Court, we have judges wearing tilak...in Court 2 there is a picture of a judge wearing a pagdi."

However, Justice Gupta was quick to interject and point out that pagdi, which was not a religious item, was not the same as hijab and thus, could not be compared with Hijab. He said that–

"Pagdi is different, it was worn in royal states. It is not religious. My grandfather used to wear it while practicing law. Don't equate it with religion."

Later in the oral pleadings, Justice Gupta also stated that a Chunni was also not comparable to a Hijab. This was pointed out when Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde stated that a headscarf or a hijab was already a part of uniform as even a chunni was allowed as part of the uniform. To this, Justice Gupta stated–

"Chunni is different. It can't be compared to hijab. Chunni is used to be worn on shoulders...People don't cover their heads in presence of elders in Punjab. That's not the culture in Punjab."

For detailed and comprehensive report of the hearing, refer here