'Don't insist on wearing religious dress': Karnataka HC adjourns hearing on Hijab issue to Monday

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said court will resume hearing on the Hijab issue on Monday, February 14. The bench also said that it will pass an order directing the opening of the colleges but "no student should insist on wearing religious dress when the matter is pending."

The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court constituted a full bench comprising himself, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi which heard the Hijab issue today.

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The three-judge full bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice JM Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit, which was formed on Wednesday, also said it wants the matter to be resolved at the earliest but till that time peace and tranquility is to be maintained.

"Till the disposal of the matter, you people should not insist on wearing all these religious things," CJ Awasthi said. "We will pass an order. Let the schools-colleges start. But till the matter is resolved, no student should insist on wearing religious dress", he said.

However, the petitioners' lawyer Devadatt Kamat requested the court to consider his objection that such an order will amount to suspension of his client's constitutional rights under article 25. "That will be a total affront to their rights," Kamat contended. In response, Chief Justice Awasthi said the arrangement is only for a few days till the matter is resolved and asked him to cooperate.

Calm prevailed today in the educational institutions which witnessed tense moments over the Hijab row earlier, as the state government had on Tuesday ordered closure of all high schools and colleges in the state for three days.

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Most of them returned to the online mode of teaching, sources said. Primary schools functioned as usual across the state without any interruption.

Justice Krishna S Dixit who was hearing since Tuesday a batch of petitions against Hijab ban in classrooms filed by Muslim students from Udupi district, maintained that these matters give rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance in view of certain aspects of personal law.

"In view of the enormity of questions of importance which were debated, the court is of the considered opinion that the Chief Justice should decide if a larger bench can be constituted in the subject matter," Justice Dixit said.

(With inputs from PTI)