‘Give us time, will see’: SC on listing appeal against hijab ban order for hearing

Chief Justice of India N V Ramana told senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, who sought urgent listing, “Others also mentioned. Let us see. We will list after vacation”.

The top court will be closed for Holi for three days starting Thursday and will reopen on March 21.

Hegde asked if the court would consider listing it on March 21, saying exams will begin and the affected students have to sit for them. But CJI Ramana said, “Mr Hegde, give us time. We will see. We will post the matter”.

Stating that wearing the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam and freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution is subject to reasonable restrictions, a full bench of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Muslim girls studying in pre-university colleges in Udupi seeking the right to wear hijabs in classrooms.

The high court also upheld an order issued on February 5 by the state, which suggested that wearing hijabs can be restricted in government colleges where uniforms are prescribed, and ruled that such curbs under norms for college uniforms are “constitutionally permissible”.

“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of the hijab by Muslim women does not make up an essential religious practice in the Islamic faith,” the full bench said in the operative portion of its order that was read out by the Karnataka Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.

“At the most, the practice of wearing this apparel may have something to do with culture but certainly not with religion,” the detailed order stated. The court said it had referred to religious texts, including the Quran, before delivering the judgment.

“We are of the considered opinion that the prescription of a school uniform is a reasonable restriction Constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to,” said the full bench also comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.

“We are of the considered opinion that the government has the power to issue the impugned government order dated February 5, 2022, and no case is made out for its invalidation,” the full bench stated.

The court also ruled that no case is made out for initiating disciplinary action against government college authorities in Udupi for barring girls from attending classes with the hijab and sought a “speedy and effective” police probe into the alleged role of “unseen hands” that may have been “at work to engineer social unrest and disharmony” over the issue in the state.

Hours after the HC delivered its 129-page judgment on the issue, which had triggered protests in parts of Karnataka last month, a Muslim student from the state approached the Supreme Court against the order, saying it had “failed to note that the right to wear a hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution”