BENGALURU: Indicating that it will pass the order to open educational institutions in the state for now, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday orally said it will restrain students and all stakeholders from insisting on wearing any religious garment, either the headscarf or saffron shawl, till the final verdict is reached.
A full bench comprising of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi indicated this before concluding the hearing on Thursday of the batch of petitions filed by students from Udupi questioning the state government's order prescribing uniform in school and college.
Adjourning the hearing to Monday, February 14, the court also indicated that it will hear the matter on a day-to-day basis and arrive at a decision as early as possible.
Before this, counsels of the petitioners-students argued that the prescribing a uniform is against the religious practice and violates Article 19(1)(a) of the constitution that guarantees freedom of speech and expression.
Madras HC expresses shock over dress code row
The developments came on a day when the Madras High Court expressed shock over the dress code controversy erupting in certain parts of the country.
The first bench of the Madras High Court headed by the Acting Chief Justice (ACJ) Munishwar Nath Bhandari asked, "What is paramount? Is it the country or religion?"
He added, "I mean, (it is) really shocking, somebody is going for the hijab, somebody is going for the topi, somebody is going for other things."
Questioning the intention behind such things, he further asked, "Is it one country or divided by religion or something like that. This is quite surprising."
Pointing out the fact that India is a secular country, Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari said, "What is found from the current affairs is nothing but an effort to divide the country by religions."
The ACJ made the observations while hearing a batch of petitions filed by Srirangam-based activist Rangarajan Narasimhan who wanted the court to order strict implementation of the dress code for devotees, disallowing non-Hindus from stepping into temples across Tamil Nadu.