Hijab row: Supreme Court to hear appeals against Karnataka HC order tomorrow

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday will be addressing a batch of appeals challenging the Karnataka High Court's order on the hijab ban.

After the hijab ban imposed by the government and some colleges led to controversial events in the state, many approached the Karnataka High Court for their right to practice their religion and wear the clothes of their choice. The court's order upheld the state government's decision to ban hijabs in school and college classrooms.

The state government banned hijabs in the name of enforcing strict uniform rules. The HC order said the prescription of uniforms is a reasonable restriction that students could not object to. A number of petitions challenging the hijab ban by education institutes were dismissed.

Tomorrow, a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia will hear the pleas challenging the ban. The appeals were earlier mentioned before a bench headed by former CJI NV Ramana but the case was not listed for hearing. Tomorrow, it will be heard on the first day of the new CJI UU Lalit.

One of the pleas listed for tomorrow has accused the Karnataka government of "step-motherly behaviour" that has "prevented students from practising their faith and resulted in an unwanted law and order situation."

The appeal also said that the High Court "had vehemently failed to apply its mind and was unable to understand the gravity of the situation as well as the core aspect of the Essential Religious Practices enshrined under Article 25 of the Constitution of India". It added that wearing a hijab is a practice essential to Islam.

The hijab row started in the Udupi district when the Government PU College allegedly stopped six girls wearing hijab from entering the building. After they protested, boys of several colleges showed up wearing saffron scarves. The issue spread to other parts of the state and the government banned both hijab and saffron scarves in the name of preventing agitations.