The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear the appeals against the Karnataka high court ruling that hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam and said the matter will be listed after the Holi vacations. Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde mentioned the matter before the Apex Court and said there is urgency as there are exams coming. Several girls will be affected by the high court's order, advocate Hegde said, as reported by LiveLaw
"Others also mentioned. Let us see. We will see," Chief Justice NV Ramana said. After advocate Hegde brought up the exam issue, CJI said, "Sorry, give us time. We will see. We will post matter."
On Tuesday, after the Karnataka high court ruled that hijab is not essential in the religious practices of Islam and thereby upheld the government's order barring all religious clothing in educational institutes. The court noted that school uniform is a reasonable restriction and the Karnataka government's order is not violative of the rights.
Challenging the high court order, Niba Naaz, a Muslim student, filed a special leave petition arguing that the Karnatak Education Act does not mandate uniforms in colleges and does not confer any power to the government to issue the February 5 order. "The High Court has failed to note that the right to wear a hijab is protected as a part of the right to conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution. Since the right to conscience is essentially an individual right, the Essential Religious Practices Test ought not to have been applied by the Hon'ble High Court in this case," the petition said.
{{/usCountry}}Challenging the high court order, Niba Naaz, a Muslim student, filed a special leave petition arguing that the Karnatak Education Act does not mandate uniforms in colleges and does not confer any power to the government to issue the February 5 order. "The High Court has failed to note that the right to wear a hijab is protected as a part of the right to conscience under Article 25 of the Constitution. Since the right to conscience is essentially an individual right, the Essential Religious Practices Test ought not to have been applied by the Hon'ble High Court in this case," the petition said.
{{/usCountry}}Schools and colleges reopened in Udupi on Wednesday, after the high court verdict, amid Section 144.