From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused an early hearing of the appeals against the Karnataka High Court verdict effecting upholding the ban on wewaring hijab in the educational institutions in the state.
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde mentioned the matter before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, pleading that “the urgency is that several girls have to attend colleges. He wanted the matter heard on the very first day of the next week.
Hegde stated that the High Court judgment creates an unreasonable classification between Muslim and non-Muslim female students in violation of the concept of Secularism, which forms part of the Basic Structure of the Indian Constitution.
He sought the early listing of the appeal since the prepatory exams were ongoing and the Muslim girl students would face the risk of missing classes on account of not being allowed to wear hijab.
A similar appeal challenging the verdict said that the High Court “failed to note that the right to wear a Hijab comes under the ambit of ‘expression’ and is thus protected under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.”
It also contended that the High Court failed to take note of the fact that the right to wear Hijab comes under the ambit of the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
Last Tuesday, a 3-judge bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi held that “Hijab is not a part of essential religious practices of Isl;am while upholding the state government’s order effectively empowering college development committees of government colleges in the State to ban the wearing of hijab (headscarves) by Muslim girl students in college campus.
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