India's Top Court to Hear Pleas Against Karnataka High Court's Verdict on Hijab Ban

In March, the Karnataka High Court upheld the state government's March 15 order which banned religious clothing such as the hijab at educational institutions.

India's apex court on Wednesday agreed to hear a petition challenging the Karnataka High Court's judgment that upheld a ban on wearing the hijab in the state's educational institutions from next week onward.

After the High Court verdict, the petitioners turned to the Supreme Court. But at the time, India's chief justice declined to set a date for hearing the cases on two separate occasions when the lawyers of the petitioners called for an urgent hearing of their appeals.

"Next week, it will come before the appropriate bench," Indian Chief Justice N.V. Ramana told advocate Prashant Bhushan, who is representing Muslim girls.

The hijab row broke out in December last year after several Muslim students at the Government Pre University College for Girls in the state's Udupi district complained that they were not allowed to enter classrooms wearing hijabs.

They were also reportedly forbidden from entering the examination hall while wearing hijabs.

The case triggered a massive protest by Muslim students.

In February, the Karnataka state government issued an order saying that pupils in schools and students at pre-university colleges throughout the state must wear uniforms prescribed either by it or the management of the private educational establishments. In response, six Muslim girls submitted a petition to the state's High Court, saying that wearing the hijab was their fundamental right as part of freedom of religion.

In its observation on March 15, the Karnataka High Court said that wearing the Muslim headscarf is "not essential religious practice in Islam."

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