Karnataka hijab row: 3 detained for attacking petitioner's brother, High Court to resume hearing today

Karnataka High Court Chief Justice (CJ) Ritu Raj Awasthi has asked the Advocate General (AG) Prabhuling Navadgi, who is representing the government, to complete his submissions at the earliest.

BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court will again resume hearing on the petitions challenging the ban on wearing hijab in state schools and colleges on Wednesday. The full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna M Dixit is hearing a batch of petitions seeking permission to wear a Hijab inside the classroom.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the Karnataka government told the High Court that there is no restriction on wearing Hijab in India with reasonable restrictions subject to institutional discipline and dismissed the charge that denial to wear the headscarf was a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination of every sort.

Countering the petitioner Muslim girls from Udupi district, who challenged the restriction on Hijab inside the educational institutions, Karnataka Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi said the right to wear the headscarf falls under the category of 19(1)(A) and not Article 25 as has been argued by the petitioners.

"The right to wear Hijab falls under Article 19(1)(A) and not Article 25. If one wishes to wear Hijab, then there is no restriction 'subject to the institutional discipline'. The rights claimed under Article 19(1)(A) is related to Article 19(2) where the government places a reasonable restriction subjected to institutional restriction," Navadgi told the full bench of the Karnataka High Court.

Navadgi further said the institutional restriction in the present case is only inside the educational institutions and not anywhere else. Arguing further, he said the independent claim of 19(1)(A) cannot go together with Article 25.

"The consequence of the demand to declare Hijab as an essential religious practice is huge because there is an element of compulsion or else you will be expelled from the community," Navadgi told the court. Article 19(1)(A) is related to the freedom of expression of the Indian constitution.

Giving clear indications of an early verdict in the hijab row, the Karnataka High Court Special bench, constituted to look into the petitions submitted by students demanding their right to wear hijab in classrooms, on Tuesday directed counsels to complete their arguments by this week. The Chief Justice (CJ) Ritu Raj Awasthi has asked the Advocate General (AG) Prabhuling Navadgi, who is representing the government, to complete his submissions at the earliest. 

CJ Awasthi informed all counsels that the bench wants to complete the hearing on the case this weekend and directed them to keep the arguments brief. "Make positive endeavours to complete within this week only," he said.

AG Navadgi said that it was entirely on the petitioner to prove that the practice of hijab is obligatory in nature and compulsorily followed in Islam. They have placed 144 Suras of the Quran, this court has asked them in this regard. There is no record on the table to show that the custom is obligatory and it is an element of compulsion which compels a member to even be expelled from the community.

Wearing of dress is a freedom of speech, as argued by the petitioners as their fundamental right under Article 19 (1) (a). However, Article 19 (1) (a) is subject to public order, decency under Article 19 (2). In the present case, the uniform rule is subject to institutional restriction and it is subjected to institutional discipline not only in schools but also in hospitals, military establishments and others, AG submitted to the court.

Meanwhile, Karnataka police have detained three persons in connection with the attack on one of the petitioners in the Hijab case in the Karnataka High Court. Hazra Shifa had alleged that a mob attacked her brother and "our property was ruined", following which three people have been detained.

"Three persons have been taken into custody in connection with the assault and targeting of the restaurant", police sources said.