Schools and colleges reopened in Karnataka's Udupi district on Wednesday, a day after Karnataka High Court dismissed all petitions challenging hijab ban in educational institutes of Karnataka. The court had said that wearing Hijab is not an essential religious practice of Islam.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.
Udupi Deputy Commissioner M Kurma Rao visited schools and colleges in the district today. "All classes are going on fine. It is all normal. We request all the students, teachers, parents & people of the district to maintain peace & harmony. It's a peaceful dist.", he said.
"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in the Islamic faith," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out a portion of the order. The other two judges in the panel were Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.
The court also maintained that the government has the power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022, and no case is made out for its invalidation.
The court had also defended the state government saying the order banning hijab in educational institutions isn't unconstitutional.
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