Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions of Muslim students seeking permission to wear hijab in classrooms. The special bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and comprising Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Jaiunnesa Mohiyuddin Khaji heard the matter on a daily basis. The verdict came after a long conflicting row over the hijab. The issue led to violence in some places and the state was forced to shut the educational institutions. Some Muslim women protesters had filed petitioned to High Court arguing that the right to wear hijab/headscarves is guaranteed to them by the constitution and it is their fundamental right. The court dismissed the pleas by Muslim students and made it clear that the state government has the right to prescribe uniforms in educational institutions. Here is what the Karnataka High Court said while dismissing the petitiom of Muslim girls:
1. Karnataka High Court ruled that the ban will remain on all the educational institutions.
2. HC dismissed the petitions by girl students to wear headscarves in classrooms. The court ruled that educational institutions have the right to prescribe uniforms. "The prescription of school uniforms is a reasonable restriction which students cannot object to. The government has the power to issue an order," said the High Court order.
3. The court further added that the verdict passed by the bench to ban hijab is not unconstitutional.
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4. CJ said that the court had formulated questions and answered them accordingly.
a) The first question which court took into consideration was, 'Whether Hijab is an essential religious practice in Islam'
b) Second question, ' whether it is guaranteed under article 25'
c) the Third question, 'whether the prescription of school uniform is violative of rights
d) Fourth and last question in courts' considerations was 'whether the Government is arbitrary and violates Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution'
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5. Ruling out the verdict on all the formulated questions the court stated that Hijab is not an essential religious practice under the Islamic faith which is protected under article 25.
6. Karnataka Advocate General states that 'Institutional discipline prevailed after the verdict.
7. The Karnataka HC said that it was 'dismayed as to how the issue of hijab is generated and blown out of proportion', during exams.
8. The HC further added in the statement that 'Some unseen hands are at work to engineer social unrest'.
