Karnataka HC quashes case against two men over ‘hijab is our dignity’ graffiti
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Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has quashed a case against two men who have been accused of painting graffiti on a government school wall, which read 'Hijab is our dignity,' during a period of heightened tension related to the Hijab.
Justice M Nagaprasanna, presiding over a single-judge bench, issued the order on August 1, drawing attention to a critical flaw in the case. The complaint, filed under the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, was based on the discovery of graffiti reading "Hijab is our dignity" on the school's wall.
Subsequent investigations led to the filing of a charge sheet against the two men by the Hosapete police.
The pivotal argument put forth by the petitioners' counsel was that the Act had not been formally notified in the Vijayanagara district, thereby questioning the validity of the proceedings. The State counsel conceded that the necessary notification had indeed not been issued for Hosapete town.
Justice Nagaprasanna's bench emphasized that for the Act's provisions to apply, an official notification from the State Government was indispensable. It was revealed that Hosapete town had not been included within the scope of the Act, rendering the ongoing proceedings an abuse of legal process and a potential miscarriage of justice.