CRITICAL NOTE ON THE VERDICT OF SUPREME COURT IN

Aishat Shifa V State of Karnataka, HIJAB CASE

FACTS
• On December 2021, reopening of colleges in Karnataka after pandemic, six girls wore hijab
to their college and was forbidden to enter the classroom as it was against the Uniform
Protocol of the Institution.
• The Karnataka Government on 5th February 2022 issued an order barring student from
wearing hijab in State educational institutions and directed to mandate uniform code as
decided by the institutions.
• Writ Petitions filed in High Court of Karnataka by group of students on 31st January 2022
seeking to wear hijabs to colleges and petition filed by a student in first week of February
2022, seeking direct permission to wear hijab in colleges challenging against the order
passed by Government mandating uniform at schools and colleges in Karnataka.
• On March 15th 2022, the three-judge bench of Karnataka High Court pronounced the
judgement dismissing writ petitions and upheld the ban on hijab in State’s educational
institutions.
• Appeals have been filed challenging against Karnataka High Court’s decision before the
Supreme Court.

ISSUES

• Whether wearing hijab is part of essential religious practices in Islamic faith, protected
under Article 25 of Indian Constitution.
• Whether the Government Order passed is manifestly arbitrary or violation of fundamental
rights guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) and 21 of Indian Constitution.

JUDGEMENT

• The three-bench judges of High Court of Karnataka pronounced judgement dismissing

the writ petition against government order and banned wearing hijab to educational
institutions of the State.
• The Court also held that imposition of dress code is a reasonable restriction and is
universally applicable to all students which doesn’t offend any constitutional rights.
• The Court also validated the order issued by State Government on 5th February as the
government is empowered to make such orders as per Section 133(2) of Karnataka
Education Act 1983.
 • On appeal to Supreme Court, on 13th October 2022 the court pronounced it’s final
judgement as split verdict on batch of petitions challenging validity of the order.
• The two-judge bench of Supreme Court’ s Split verdict,
• Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeal challenging Karnataka High Court decision
and continue the ban on hijab in the interests of morality, equity and public order while
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia was unable to agree with this decision, and observed that “by
asking girls to take off their hijab before entering the school gate, is an invasion to their
privacy and attack on their dignity which ultimately is a denial to them of secular
education. These are clear violation of Article 19(1)(a), Article 21 and Article 25 (1) of
the Indian Constitution”.

JUDGEMENT ANALYSIS

The split verdict of Supreme Court has created a lot of controversy and criticism. Justice Gupta
and Justice Dhulia had diametrically opposite views about the matter. According to the verdict of
Justice Gupta, there is no violation of any fundamental rights as raised by petitioners and the
government order aims to guarantee consistent equity among all students by ensuring uniformity
and secular learning atmosphere in the classroom. On other hand, Justice Dhulia noted that the
question of essential religious practice was not at all relevant in determining the present dispute,
rather the question was on invasion to privacy and attack on dignity of the Muslim students by
Asking them to take off their hijab while entering the institution as it was ultimately a denial to
them of secular education. They may have the right to regulate dress code of students but it must
be done in fair and non-discriminatory manner without violating constitutional rights of students.

If the belief is sincere and does not harm anyone or affect public order, there can’t be a reasonable
justification for banning hijab in classroom. Especially, there will always be more than one
viewpoint on a particular religious matter and therefore nothing gives the Court authority to pick
one over the other. Neutrality and impartiality don’t require erasure of religious identity or
expression. The school is considered as a public place and not to be compared with war rooms or
defense camps in matter of discipline. Asking a pre-university school girl to take off her hijab to
enter the school gate is an invasion on her privacy and dignity which is clearly violates her
fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. The decision of Court on ban of Hijab had
staked the education of Muslim girls making it troublesome to get educated.

In villages and semi urban areas of India, it is common for girls to deal with daily house chores.
The hurdles and hardship for them to get educated is challenging. Conservative family may only
let their child to school wearing hijab, which is her ticket to education. Wearing hijab is simply a
matter of choice. It may not be essential religious practice but is still matter of conscience, belief
and expression. The unfortunate fallout of hijab restriction leads to denial of education to girl
children causing challenge for them to reach the school. Delay in delivery of final judgement
clearly holds the State responsible towards the education of the girls and their future.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, the Supreme Court’s verdict in hijab case is deeply problematic and violates the
rights of students. Analyzing close, the hijab case is not a war for religious freedom but reveals to
be the fight for education. Since split verdict have been delivered, the case is now placed before
the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India for further directions. India being a secular state and diverse
nation with humongous population, religion and culture, it is bound to happen that some decision
might be liked by certain sect and disliked by others at the same time. There have been and will
be cases and instances coming up that satisfies a particular sect and works opposite for others but
what should always be served is justice.