The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to urgently hear the appeals against the Karnataka High Court’s decision to uphold the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions of the state, Bar and Bench reported.
Chief Justice NV Ramana said that the court would take up the matter after Holi vacations. As per the Supreme Court’s calendar, the judges will be on vacation between March 17 and March 19, while March 20 is a Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Karnataka High Court had adjudicated that the hijab is not essential to Islam. While dismissing all petitions against the state government’s ban on wearing the headscarf in educational institutions, the judges also held that prescribing school uniforms did not violate the rights of citizens.
The ban had been imposed last month after a group of students of the Government Women’s Pre-University College in Udupi city protested because they were not allowed to attend classes for being dressed in the headscarf.
Hours after the Karnataka High Court passed its verdict, one of the Muslim students on Tuesday challenged the decision in the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde urged the Supreme Court to hear the matter on an urgent basis.
Hegde said that Muslim girls would not be able to attend college ahead of their examinations as they will not be allowed to wear hijabs in classrooms.
To this, Ramana said: “Others [petitioners] have mentioned too. We will post the matter after Holi vacations.” The chief justice, however, did not specify any particular date.
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