'Not essential religious practice in Islam': HC upholds ban on hijab; case now in SC
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, March 15
The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in the state, saying it’s not an essential religious practice of Islam and school uniforms promoted harmony and spirit of common brotherhood.
‘Dress code lawful’: HC cites reasons
- Those not wearing hijab don’t become sinners under Islam
- School uniforms promote harmony and spirit of brotherhood transcending religious or sectional diversities
- Dress code excluding hijab, bhagwa or any other apparel symbolic of religion can be a step forward in the direction of emancipation
- Prescription of school uniform is a constitutionally permissible reasonable restriction on fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a)
- Insistence on wearing purdah, veil or headgear may hinder process of emancipation of woman in general and Muslim woman in particular
- Militates against our constitutional spirit of equal opportunity of public participation and positive secularism
- Karnataka Government has power to issue such an order mandating uniforms in educational institutions
“We are of the considered opinion that wearing of hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith,” a Full Bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said.
The Bench, which also included Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M Khazi, said, “Those not wearing hijab do not become the sinners under Islam.”
“Prescription of school dress code to the exclusion of hijab, bhagwa, or any other apparel symbolic of religion can be a step forward in the direction of emancipation and more particularly, to the access to education. It hardly needs to be stated that this does not rob off the autonomy of women or their right to education in as much as they can wear any apparel of their choice outside the classroom,” the HC said.
Within hours, a Muslim student moved the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding the ban on religious dresses in educational institutions in the state.
Holding that absolutely no case was made out for indulgence, the HC rejected the petitions filed by some Muslim girls challenging the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in Karnataka. “We are of the considered opinion that the prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction (on fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a)) constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to.”
“There is a lot of scope for the argument that insistence on wearing of purdah, veil or headgear in any community may hinder the process of emancipation of woman in general and Muslim woman in particular. That militates against our constitutional spirit of equal opportunity of public participation and positive secularism,” it said.
The HC upheld the government’s power to issue such an order mandating uniforms in educational institutions, saying no case was made out for invalidation of the February 5, 2022, order. It also refused to issue directions for initiating disciplinary enquiry against officials involved.
The Karnataka HC had on February 10 restrained students from going to educational institutions wearing religious dress. The SC had refused to intervene even as it asserted that it will protect the constitutional rights of everyone and will take up the matter at the appropriate time. The petitioners were allegedly denied entry into a pre-university college for girls in Udupi in December last for violating the dress code.
The state government had insisted that the state high court must decide if hijab was an essential practice of Islam, saying it’s important to decide the issue, as the petitioners have asserted it as a part of their right to religion.
