Hijab row: Supreme Court rejects plea challenging HC order
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a petition that sought urgent hearing and a stay on the Karnataka High Courts interim order that restrained students from wearing 'religious clothes' while the matter is sub judice, NDTV reported.
Rejecting the plea by a girl from Karnataka, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), NV Ramana, said that don't spread the issues to a national level. The Supreme Court will interfere at an appropriate time, he said.
The counsel for the girl urged the court to take the case citing far-reaching implications. It added that students had been wearing the cloth for 10 years, but the court did not budge. CJI said not to bring the issue to larger levels since the court knew what was happening. He questioned the veracity of bringing the case to the top court at the moment.
In her plea, the student contended that practical exams start on February 15 and interferences into students access to educational institutions will hamper their studies. Wearing a hijab is her constitutional right to expression, privacy and "Freedom of Conscience", and thus the High Court ruling violates the constitution.
She further argued that the government's order, banning clothes that "disturb harmony", denies Muslim women wearing hijab entry to educational institutions. The impugned order creates unreasonable classification between Muslim and non-Muslim females, violating the concept of secularism. The order also violates Articles 14, 15, 19, 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution as well as core principles of the International Conventions that India is a signatory of.
The Karnataka High Court had ruled that educational institutions, which the state government ordered to close for three days, can open for now, but no religious clothing should be allowed for the time being to sustain peace. The High Court, which is hearing a petition that challenged hijab being banned inside classrooms, had posted the further hearing to Monday.
On Thursday, the SC had refused another petition that sought to stay the government order banning religious clothes.
The hijab issue started after a government women's college in the Udupi district of Karnataka banned hijabs inside classrooms, and Muslim girls there started protesting. After that, a counter-protest emerged in various educational institutions, where saffron-clad students brought out demonstrations and at some places situation turned violent. News agency The News Minute found that right-wing Hindutva outfits had a hand in the 'anti-hijab' ruckus in some institutions.