Hijab row: HC says students should follow uniform of schools, colleges till disposal of case

A decision on the matter is expected by end of week

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R The Karnataka High Court, hearing the hijab case, on Wednesday said the uniform prescribed by the schools and colleges should be followed till the disposal of the case.

"We are making it very clear that whether a degree college or a PU College, if a uniform has been prescribed, that has to be followed so long as the matter is pending before the court," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi told advocate Mohammed Tahir who is the counsel for one of the petitioners seeking permission to wear hijab in the classrooms.

The court also made it clear that the interim order related to hijab was confined to students only, when a lawyer appearing on behalf of petitioners from Udupi pointed out that the teachers were also asked to remove their headscarf.

Tahir urged the bench for clarity on its interim order saying that every institution was "pushing students outside" the college citing the court order.

The full bench comprising Chief Justice Awasthi, Justice J.M. Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit is hearing the hijab case on a day-to-day basis and made it clear to wind it up by this weekend.

On January 1, six girl students of a college in Udupi attended a press conference held by the CFI in the coastal town protesting against the college authorities denying them entry into classrooms wearing hijab.

This was four days after they requested the principal permission to wear hijab in classes which was not allowed. Till then, students used to wear the headscarf to the campus, but entered the classroom after removing it, college principal Rudre Gowda had said.

"The institution did not have any rule on hijab-wearing as such since no one used to wear it to the classroom in the last 35 years. The students who came with the demand had the backing of outside forces," Gowda had said.