The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear next week, pleas challenging the Karnataka High Court judgement that upheld the right of educational institutions to ban wearing of hijab in Pre-University colleges of the state.
Advocate Prashant Bhushan mentioned the matter before a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana saying the petitions have not been listed for a long time.
“The girls are losing out on their studies. This matter was filed long back," Bhushan said.
The Chief Justice said that the matter will be listed sometime next week.
Bhushan mentioned the matter on behalf of some of the appellants.
The top court had earlier refused a number of times a plea to consider the special leave petitions against the High Court's judgement urgently.
On March 24, the court had asked the petitioners not to sensationalise the issue when senior advocate Devadatt Kamat on behalf of girl students said that they would lose one academic year, if they are denied permission to wear headscarf and appear in examinations beginning in March 28.
A three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court led by Chief Justice (since retired) Ritu Raj Awasthi, and comprising Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi had on March 15 upheld the ban on wearing Hijab in classrooms for not being a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith. It had dismissed a plea for permission to wear Hijab in classrooms, saying prescription of uniform was a reasonable restriction.
Questioning the HC's verdict, the petitioners claimed wearing of Hijab was protected under the fundamental rights to privacy, expression and conscience guaranteed under the Constitution.
They also contended the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, and the Rules made thereunder, do not provide for any mandatory uniform to be worn by students.
They also claimed the High Court's order had created an unreasonable classification between the non-Muslim female students and the Muslim female students.