Karnataka : SC Agrees To Hear Students' Plea Of Wearing Hijab During Exam

Karnataka hijab row ended up getting stuck in a split decision taken by a two judge bench of Supreme Court last year. As the verdicts were opposite to each other, the final solution was put on hold seeking decision from a larger bench. Recently, a new development in the case is grabbing everyone's attention.

Since the decision of SC on Karnataka hijab row was put on hold, the decision of the high court remained valid and hence, college students are still not allowed to wear hijab inside premises. However, the female students decided to raise a plea in the apex court asking for interim permission to wear hijab in college only during the examination period. The plea was put before Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on February 22 by the lawyer of Muslim girls and the court made a major statement regarding the plea.

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Karnataka Hijab Row

The lawyer representing the Muslim girls pointed out to the court that the girls were not allowed to wear hijab in college because of high court's decision. The college examinations were just around the corner as they commence from March 9 and the girls requested interim permission to wear hijab during exams. CJI Chandrachud reportedly said that the court will take the matter into consideration and will soon decide what needs to be done.

It is to be noted that the Supreme Court released a verdict on Karnataka hijab row back in October 2022. A two judge bench consisting of now retired Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia gave opposing verdicts regarding the case. While Justice Gupta said that allowing students to wear religious symbols to schools and colleges was against the idea of secularism and supported Karnataka court's decision to ban hijab and all religious dresses in schools, Justice Dhulia said that wearing hijab or any other religious symbol should be a personal choice and the state should not force such decision on people.

The split verdict led to the decision being put on hold and the judges requested SC to put the matter before a larger bench of judges to have an appropriate permanent solution.