Karnataka HC's hijab ban verdict challenged in Supreme Court

A petition was moved in the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka high court order rejecting pleas challenging ban on hijab in the educational institutions across Karnataka. 

Niba Naaz, a student filed the petition against the Karnataka high court order which stated that hijab is not an essential part of Islam, thereby underlining the Basavaraj Bommai government's restriction on the use of headscarves by Muslim women in the educational institutions. 

"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of a hijab by Muslim women does not form part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith. The answer to the second question is that we are of the considered opinion that prescription of a school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to. The answer to the third question is that the government has the power to issue an order and no case is made of its invalidation," chief justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said.