On Wednesday, July 13, the Supreme Court of India agreed to hear a batch of pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court verdict refusing to lift the ban on hijab in all educational institutions of the state. The hearing is scheduled for next week.
Taking note of lawyer Prashant Bhushan and his submissions a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli noted that the matter was filed a long time ago but are yet to be listed for hearing.
"The girls are losing out on studies," Bhushan said.
The bench said, "It will be listed sometime next week."
The Karnataka High Court's verdict said that hijab was not an essential religious practice, and therefore would not be guaranteed any protection under Article 25. It also said that educational institutions imposing their prescribed uniform can prevent students from wearing hijab inside the classroom.
The full-judge Bench, led by Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, pronounced its verdict after 11 days of hearing the matter. It also concluded that the Government Order of February 5 did not violate any rights of the petitioners and was well within its bounds to say that students must wear the prescribed uniform. The order also said that a prescribed uniform does not infringe upon any rights and comes well within the clause of reasonable restrictions added to Article 14 of the Constitution.
