Karnakata Hijab row: On a day when the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the hijab ban, asking the pleas be presented in front of the CJI with a bigger bench, Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq stoked fresh controversy, saying that the "absence of hijab will have a bad impact on society".
The leader added: "It is said in Islam that when girls start growing up they should wear hijab. Boys also start growing up. Society's atmosphere will be spoiled if they(girls)don't wear it."
The Supreme Court on Thursday delivered a split verdict on the ban on hijabs in Karnataka's educational institutions and referred the matter to the chief justice of India for constituting a larger bench.
While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the March 15 verdict of the Karnataka High Court that had refused to lift the ban and held that hijab is not part of "essential religious practice" in Islamic faith, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the pleas and observed that it is ultimately a "matter of choice".
"There is a divergence of opinion," Justice Gupta, who was heading the bench, said at the outset while pronouncing the verdict on a batch of 26 petitions.
He said he has framed 11 questions in his verdict and answers to them are against the appellants. The list includes questions on the ambit and scope of the right of freedom of conscience and religion under Article 25 and the right to essential religious practices under Article 25.
In view of the split verdict, the bench directed that the appeals against the high court verdict be placed before the Chief Justice of India for constituting an appropriate larger bench. While pronouncing his judgement, Justice Dhulia said the high court had probably taken a "wrong path".
Also Read: Karnataka hijab ban: Supreme Court delivers split verdict on HC order, refers matter to CJI
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