The Karnataka High Court has given its judgment on the Hijab row and has ruled that “Hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam.” and it is not protected under Article 25 of the constitution.
The court in its ruling states that the prescription of school uniforms by the State is a reasonable restriction of the students’ rights under Article 25 and thus, the Government order issued by the Karnataka government dated February 5 is not violative of their rights.
Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who read out the operative portion of the judgment according to Live law, said, “Our answers to the questions are, wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form Essential Religious Practice in Islamic faith. Our second answer is prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which students cannot object to. In view of the above, the government has power to issue the GO of February 5 and no case is made out for its invalidation. No case is made out for the issuance of disciplinary proceedings against respondents and writ of quo warranto is not maintainable. All writ petitions being devoid of merits are dismissed,”.
However, it is clear that this judgment will not go down well with Muslim groups who think the Courts have not right interfere in Sharia Law” and Islam is above the Indian constitution.
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