'Divergent views': Supreme Court delivers spilt verdict in Karnataka hijab ban case

The two-judge bench referred the matter to the CJI for setting up an appropriate bench

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave a split judgement on the validity of ban on hijab worn by some Muslim girl students in classrooms of Pre-University colleges in Karnataka, leaving the issue to be decided by a larger bench.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia said since there is a divergence of views, the matter would be posted before the Chief Justice of India for setting up a larger bench.

Justice Gupta dismissed the batch of appeals filed against March 15 judgement of the High Court, which upheld the ban, saying permitting one community to wear their religious symbols would be antithesis to secularism.

Justice Dhulia, however, disagreed by allowing the appeals and quashing the notification issued by the state government on February 5.

"Asking the girls to take off their hijab before they enter the school gates is first an invasion of their privacy, then it is an attack on their dignity, and then ultimately it is a denial to them of secular education. These are clearly violative of Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression), Article 21 (right to life) and Article 25(1) (freedom to practice religion) of the Constitution," he declared.

Justice Gupta, for his part, said that the students cannot assert that they have a right to education but they would avail such right as per their own wish and in the manner which they consider appropriate.

"Secularism is applicable to all citizens, therefore, permitting one religious community to wear their religious symbols would be antithesis to secularism. Thus, the Government Order cannot be said to be against the ethic of secularism or to the objective of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983,” Justice Gupta wrote in his separate judgement.

He also held that religious belief cannot be carried to a secular school maintained out of State funds.

A group of students and NGOs among others challenged the decision by a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi (since retired), and comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi which had on March 15 upheld the ban on wearing hijab in classrooms for not being a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith. The HC had said prescription of uniform was a reasonable restriction.