Hijab row: No interim relief for students, Karnataka High Court refers case to larger bench

The row erupted in January after an Udupi college barred hijab-clad girls from entering the classroom (Image: AP)

The Karnataka High Court, which is hearing a petition moved by five Muslim students who were denied entry in a classroom due to the use of hijab, on February 9 refused to grant interim relief to them. The court decided to refer the matter to a larger bench.

Justice Sanjay Dixit, who presided over the bench hearing the case, said the matter pertains to certain constitutional questions which must be addressed by a larger bench.

On the request of petitioners' counsel to allow the students to attend classes with hijabs till a final order is issued, the judge said "even interim prayers merit consideration at the hands of larger bench", Live Law reported.

Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde, who argued on behalf of the petitioners, had urged the court to grant the students interim relief as only two months were left for their academic year to be completed.

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“They have only two months (of the academic year) left. Do not exclude them…we need to find a a way that no girl child is deprived of education…Today what is absolutely important is that peace comes, Constitutional fraternity returns to the college. No heavens will fall for two months..,” Bar and Bench reported him as saying.

The five girls, studying at the state-run Pre-University College in Udupi district, were part of the group which has been barred from entering the classroom since January with their hijabs -- a head-covering used by Muslim women.

In their writ petition before the court, the girls, through their counsel, argued that wearing a hijab is part of the essential Islamic practices and is, therefore, protected under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution.

The high court hearing on February 8 began amid pro and anti-hijab protests being reported in several parts of the state. As the bench appealed for peace and calm, it assured that the issue would be addressed as per the Constitution. “Let us keep aside passions and emotions, and go by the laws, the reasons, and the Constitution," Justice Dixit had said.

While the issue of wearing hijabs inside classes was initially restricted to the PU College in Udupi, the controversy has now propped up in several other colleges of the state.

After hijab-clad girls began camping outside colleges to protest against the administration which restrained them from wearing hijab inside classrooms, counter-demonstrations erupted with right-wing groups distributing saffron shawls - symbol of Hindu identity - among the female Hindu students.

The events prompted the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled government to ban clothes which it said "disturb equality, integrity and public order". The order was issued on February 5.

Devedatta Kamat, another senior advocate arguing for the students, told the High Court on February 8 that the order was not compatible with the law. The government should explain how wearing the hijab affects the public order in the colleges and not outside, he reportedly argued.

Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who has asked all high schools and colleges in Karnataka to remain closed till February 12, said his government will adhere to the high court's decision. "Let's wait for the judiciary's decision and we will abide by whatever it says," he told reporters on February 8.

The Congress, the state's prime Opposition party, has accused the BJP-led government of provoking religious sentiments.

"The Constitution allows everyone to follow their religion," Congress state unit chief DK Shivakumar told reporters on February 8, adding that the entire controversy is a "big conspiracy". "Instead of creating jobs and reviving the state's economy, they want to create an unnecessary controversy by provoking sentiments," he said.

Earlier, former Congress' national president Rahul Gandhi had expressed support for the students who were denied entry in classrooms due to the use of hijab. "By letting students’ hijab come in the way of their education, we are robbing the future of the daughters of India," he said on February 5.