New Delhi, October 13, 2022 (PPI-OT):A panel of the Indian Supreme Court failed, today, to rule on a ban on hijabs in schools, referring the matter to the chief justice after a split decision, and leaving in place a state’s ruling against the scarves. According to Kashmir Media Service, ban of Karnataka state on the hijab in schools in February unleashed protests by Muslim students and their parents. “We have a divergence of opinion,” said Supreme Court Justice Hemant Gupta, one of two judges on the panel.

Hemant Gupta said he had wanted an appeal against the ban to be quashed while his colleague on the panel, Sudhanshu Dhulia, said wearing the hijab was a matter of choice. Anas Tanwir, a lawyer for one of the Muslim petitioners, who appealed against the Karnataka ban, told media that the split verdict was a semi-victory for them. “Hopefully, the chief justice will set up the larger bench soon and we will have a definitive verdict,” he said. It is to be mentioned that in the state of Karnataka, the Hindutva BJP government has issued an order banning the wearing of hijab in pre-universities and colleges, against which a petition was filed in the Karnataka High Court, which delivered its verdict after an eleven-day hearing.

It was said that hijab is not mandatory in Islam, so it is right to make it mandatory to wear uniform in educational institutions. The High Court had further said that advising or ordering the enforcement of a dress code is not a violation of fundamental rights. An appeal was filed in the Supreme Court against this decision of the Karnataka High Court.

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Kashmir Media Service
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