Hijab not an essential practice of Islam, rules Karnataka High Court

Bench upholds ban on headscarf in classrooms; plea in SC against HC verdict

The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday said Hijab was not part of the essential religious practice in Islamic faith and effectively upheld the ban against the headscarf in educational institutions in the state by dismissing pleas from Muslim girls seeking nod to wear it in classrooms.

A three-judge full Bench of the High Court said the prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, even as the aggrieved petitioner Muslim girls said they would continue their legal battle and termed today's order as "unconstitutional." The court suggested the possibility of some 'unseen