SC to set up 3-Judge Bench to take up Hijab ban in Karnataka PUC colleges

Two judges on a Supreme Court bench in October 2022 had delivered opposing verdicts in the hijab controversy

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider a plea for setting up a three-judge bench to take up a plea against ban on Hijab in classrooms of Pre-University Colleges in Karnataka.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora on behalf of students mentioned the matter before a bench presided over by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, citing urgency in view of impending examinations on February 6.

The counsel said after the split verdict, students have moved to private colleges, but examinations can be held only in government colleges and thus they may be permitted to appear in the exams starting February 6 wearing Hijab.

Read | SC's Hijab verdict: Some questions remain

She said the matter may be taken up for interim order.

The bench, also comprising Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala asked the petitioner's counsel to mention it before the Registrar.

"This is a three-judge matter. We will do it," the bench said.

On October 13, 2022, the Supreme Court had delivered a split verdict 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 had said since there is 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, 2022 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, 2022.