66-year-old Muslim woman moves Supreme Court challenging Karnataka High Court Hijab verdict

A petition has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court 's Hijab judgment which held that Hijab is not an essential religious practice (ERP) of Islam and, thereby, upheld the power given to colleges to ban wearing of hijab in college campus [Sajeeda Begum vs State of Karnataka]..The plea was moved by one Sajeeda Begum, who had also moved an impleadment application before the High Court.Begum contended that despite pressing the application and urging the High Court to hear the applicants-intervenors, the High Court did not implead them and did not allow them to urge their arguments and submissions, thereby violating the "principle of orality."It was submitted that "teenage girls covering themselves modestly while going to receive education pose no threat to public order.".Pertinently, the plea said that the issue of hijab as ERP under Article 25 is only the last resort of argument since the right to wear hijab arises out of Articles 14, 15, 17, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.The petitioner contended that the High Court did not appreciate that the issue of ERP does not arise in the present case."The Government Order does not ban the hijab, and therefore, in view of the concession of the Advocate General which was rather in the nature of clarification of the Government Order, the High Court ought to have only decided the issue on plain aspect of administrative law," the petition stated..The plea said that denial of headscarf/ Hijab and forcing young girls to take off articles of clothing that they connect with modesty and religious values amounts to "State-sanctioned indignity and is a violation of a gamut of human rights"."The same subordinates them as a group including the petitioner who are wears hijab out of sincere belief of the mandatory prescription in Islam for whose violation she believes she would be accountable on the Judgment Day," the appeal said. .The appeal had been drawn by advocates Talha Abdul Rahman, Mohammed Afeef, Basava Prasad Kunale, M Shaz Khan, and Harsh Vardhan Kediya. .The Karnataka High Court had on Tuesday, upheld the GO effectively empowering college development committees of government colleges in the State to ban the wearing of hijab (headscarves) by Muslim girl students in college campus.A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi held:- Hijab is not a part of essential religious practices of Islam;- Requirement of uniform is a reasonable restriction on the fundamental right to freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a);- The government has the power to pass the GO; no case is made out for its invalidation..Those not wearing hijab do not become sinners under Islam: Why Karnataka High Court upheld Hijab ban