Karnataka hijab case: Supreme Court likely to deliver verdict before October 16

Digital Desk: Supreme Court is likely to announce its verdict on petitions contesting the high court's rejection to lift the hijab ban at educational institutions in Karnataka.

Before Justice Hemant Gupta retires this week, the Supreme Court is expected to issue its decision.

On September 22, following ten days of hearings, a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia reserved its decision on the arguments.

Many of the petitioners' attorneys argued during the hearing before the Supreme Court that allowing Muslim girls to attend class while wearing the hijab will jeopardise their education because they stop attending classes.

The state government's February 5, 2022 ruling that forbade wearing clothing that disturbs equality, integrity, and public order in schools and universities were one of many topics on which the petitioners' legal counsel had contended.

Additionally, some supporters had contended that the case should be heard by a five-judge Constitution panel.

However, the state's attorney claimed that the Karnataka government decree that sparked the hijab controversy was "religious neutral."

The state's attorney had argued in the top court that if the government had not acted in the way it did, it would have been "guilty of dereliction of constitutional duty," insisting that the movement in favour of wearing the hijab in educational institutions was not a "spontaneous act" by a small number of people.

A group of Muslim students at the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, Karnataka, had petitioned the high court on March 15 to be allowed to wear the hijab in class, but it was denied since it is not an essential component of the Islamic faith.

Some Muslim females appealed the state government's ruling on February 5, 2022, to the high court.

The high court's decision has been contested in a number of pleas before the Supreme Court.