Hijab graffiti: Karnataka High Court quashes case against 2 persons from Hosapete

On March 16, 2022, the school headmaster had found the graffiti, 'Hijab is our dignity', written on the wall of the school in black paint.

The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the case against two Hosapete residents accused of painting 'Hijab is our dignity' on a school wall.

The Dharwad bench ruled that criminal proceedings cannot be initiated unless a local area is duly notified by the state government under the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, 1981.

Justice M Nagaprasanna noted this while quashing the proceedings under the act against Mujamil and Mohammed Jamaul.

Hosapete Town police registered a case against the two following a complaint filed by H L Kumaraswamy, the headmaster of the Government Girls High School, in March 2022.

According to the complaint, when all students left school on March 15, 2022, and the institute closed for the day, the walls were clean. However, the next day, when he entered the school premises at 9 am the walls were painted ‘Hijab is our dignity’ in black.

Police investigated the matter and filed a charge sheet under section 3 of the Karnataka Open Places (Prevention of Disfigurement) Act, which provides for up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 1,000 or both.

The two, however, argued that the offence under the Act could not have been registered as Vijayanagar district was not notified to be coming under it.

Justice Nagaprasanna noted that for an incident to become an offence under Section 3 of the Act, the rigour of Section 1 of the Act has to be complied with, requiring a notification at the hands of the state government is imperative and the same is non-existent in the case at hand. "In the light of the fact that there is no notification issued by the state bringing in Hosapete town under the Act, further proceedings if permitted to continue would become an abuse of the process of the law and result in miscarriage of justice,” the court said.