New Delhi: The Karnataka hijab ban petitions were left with a split verdict in the Supreme Court with the two judges calling for a larger bench to hear the case.
As both the judges hearing the petitions agreed about a divergence of opinion with the split verdict, they have now recommended that the three-judge bench be constituted by the Chief Justice of India.
Justice Hemant Gupta was in favour of the hijab ban in educational institutions while Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said he “respectfully disagreed”.
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Justice Dhulia said that the education of girls is important and hence, the ban should go.
Justice Dhulia said, “It is ultimately a matter of choice, nothing more, nothing else.”
He said, “Uppermost in my mind was the education of the girl child. One thing which was topmost for me was education of Girl Child. A girl child in (many) areas does household work and chores before going to school and are we making her life any better by doing this (hijab ban).”
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Justice Gupta on the other hand said, “The answer, according to me, is against the appellant. I dismiss the appeal.”
He further questioned if the appeal should be referred to a Constitution bench and whether colleges can decide on the uniform of students.
Justice Gupta also questions if wearing the hijab and restricting it violates the freedom of religion (Article 25)
It may be mentioned that Muslim students in Karnataka had challenged the government’s decision to ban hijab on campus.