Hijab Row: Karnataka HC to hear student's plea on Feb 8

The petitioner is among six students who have been barred from attending classes as the school administration said that wearing a hijab is in violation of the dress code since December 27, 2021.

Hijab Row: Karnataka HC to hear student's plea on Feb 8

Amid the ongoing issue of not allowing Muslim girl students to enter the campus wearing hijab, the Karnataka High Court will hear a writ petition filed by a student at the Women’s Government Pre-University College in Udupi who is among a group of students who was denied entry. The Karnataka High Court will hear the petition next Tuesday; i.e February 8.

The petitioner is among six students who have been barred from attending classes as the school administration said that wearing a hijab is in violation of the dress code since December 27, 2021. On January 31, the student had approached the High Court seeking interim relief to attend classes wearing the hijab before the entire matter was settled. Now, the case came up for hearing on February 3, the state government counsel told the bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit that the state’s Advocate General will represent Karnataka in this case. 

In her petition, the student had argued that wearing a hijab is her fundamental right guaranteed under Articles 14 and 25 of the Constitution. She also said that the Kerala High Court in 2016 case has held that wearing a hijab is an essential Islamic practice. Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees the right of equality before law while Article 25 gives freedom of religion to all persons in India. She also argued that not allowing her to attend classes because she is wearing a hijab is against constitutional morality as it serves no public interest.

Earlier, Udupi MLA Raghupati Bhat who is the chairman of the school development monitoring committee has said that they will not allow students wearing hijab inside the school premises.

The state government has also formed an expert committee to settle the dispute. However, there are still cases been reported of girl students being stopped from attending class because of wearing hijab.

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