Supreme Court gives split verdict on Hijab ban

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a split verdict on the ban on hijab in schools and colleges in Karnataka. 

Justice Hemant Gupta, who headed the bench said that there is a "divergence of opinion". In light of the divergence of opinion, the matter has to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for appropriate directions, the Bench directed.

Justice Hemant Gupta's verdict upheld the hijab ban verdict of the Karnataka High Court, while Justice Sudhanshshu Dhulia allowed all the appeals and set aside the judgment of the Karnataka High Court.

Justice Gupta in his judgement framed 11 questions. He held that wearing hijab is not part of essential religious practice under Islam and the state government order serves purpose of access to education. Therefore, he dismissed the appeals.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia had reserved its order on September 22 after hearing a batch of petitions filed against the Karnataka High Court's judgement refusing to stay the government order.

The BJP government issued an order on February 5, 2022, which banned wearing clothes that disturb equality, integrity, and public order in schools and colleges.

On March 15, the high court dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students of the Government Pre-University Girls College in Karnataka's Udupi seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms, ruling it is not a part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith.

Following this, the students approached the apex court.

The hijab ban had snowballed into a major controversy in the state after a few students at an Udupi college staged a protest alleging that they were not allowed to enter their classrooms wearing hijab. 

Protests and counter-protests were reported from several districts with an opposing group of students coming to colleges wearing saffron scarves.