NEW DELHI: A person has a right to practise religion but the question is whether it can be taken to a school which has a prescribed uniform, the Supreme Court observed on Monday while hearing the Karnataka Hijab ban row.
Hearing arguments on a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in educational institutions of the state, the apex court asked whether a student can wear a hijab to a school where a uniform has been prescribed.
“You may have a religious right to practise whatever you want to practise. But can you practise and take that right to a school which has a uniform as a part of the dress you have to wear? That will be the question,” said a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia. The apex court posed the question to senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, who was arguing for some of the petitioners.
Considering the contention of senior advocate Sanjay Hegde that dress code was not among the subjects on which the state could formulate rules, the bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia asked whether students could come in middies, miniskirts if the state did not have the power to prescribe uniforms.
“If there is no specific power, Article 161 will come in. If there is no such power to prescribe uniforms, can girls come in middies, miniskirts, whatever they want? If there is no prescription, then the state’s executive power comes into play. We need not follow what the HC has said. If the act doesn’t prohibit or prescribe any dress code, will the executive power of the state come or not?” the bench remarked.
Hegde contended that the government order (GO) dated February 5 passed by the state that did not allow students to wear hijab or customary Islamic headscarf to educational institutions created a substantial disadvantage for Muslim women.
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