NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday indicated that it would soon be listing the pleas against the Karnataka high court’s hijab order that upheld the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions of the state.
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora mentioned the matter before the bench led by Chief Justice NV Ramana seeking an urgent hearing for the matter.
‘ I will list it… Wait for two days,” CJI said.
Several pleas have been filed against the high court order.
The top court on March 24 had said the matter should not be sensationalized and exams are not related to the case when pleas were mentioned before it citing examinations of the students in the state.
”... High Court has failed to note that the right to wear a Hijab is protected as a part of the right to conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution. It is submitted that since the right to conscience is essentially an individual right, the ‘Essential Religious Practices Test’ ought not to have been applied by the Hon’ble High Court in this instant case.” One of the pleas filed against the HC order reads.
Upholding the government order dated February 5, 2022, banning the hijab in classrooms, a full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justices Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi of the Karnataka High court had pronounced the verdict on a cluster of petitions questioning the order passed by the state government banning the wearing of hijab in classrooms.
The high court bench had also maintained that the government has power to issue the challenged order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation.
By the said order, the Karnataka government had banned wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges, which the Muslim girls had challenged in the High Court. The high court bench had also rejected the plea to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against the college, its principal and a teacher.
"In the above circumstances, all these writ petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be and accordingly are dismissed. In view of the dismissal of the writ petition, all the pending applications fell into insignificance and are accordingly disposed off," the high court bench had said in its order.