On 13th July 2022, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition challenging the Karnataka High Court’s verdict regarding the hijab ban in the upcoming week. Earlier on 15th March 2022. the Karnataka High Court said in its verdict that wearing a hijab has not been proven as an essential religious practice in Islam and that educational institutions have the right to mandate a dress code inside their premises.
Along with this, the court ruled that students shall not wear hijab in academic institutions having a predefined uniform dress code.
Following the mention of the case by Advocate Prashant Bhushan, a bench led by Chief Justice of India NV Ramana consented to refer it to an appropriate bench next week, as reported by Livelaw. According to Prashant Bhushan, the plea was filed in March but was yet to be listed.
A major controversy erupted in Karnataka in January 2022 after a Udupi school prohibited hijab inside classrooms. Some Muslim girl students, supported by PFI had appealed against this in the Karnataka High Court. On February 25, the court reserved its decision on the case. Protests, allegations, and counter-allegations occurred in response to the hijab ban.
The Karnataka High Court declared on March 15 that wearing a headscarf does not constitute an essential Islamic practice as the petitioners failed to provide evidence in that regard. The Karnataka High Court dismissed all petitions contesting the hijab ban in Karnataka schools and decided that the rules for the uniform dress were fair and that students can not object to respective dress codes mandated by educational institutions.
A Full Bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna Dixit, and Justice JM Khazi pronounced the decision. The Bench ascertained that the petitioners’ basic rights were not violated by a uniform dress code at educational institutions.
Following that, Muslim students from Karnataka petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the judgment of the Karnataka High Court. The ruling was contested by six Muslim students from Udupi before the top court.
