Justice Hemant Gupta “The State has not denied admission to the students from attending classes. If they choose not to attend classes due to the uniform that has been prescribed, it is a voluntary act of such students,” he wrote, adding that “a student, thus, cannot claim the right to wear a headscarf to a secular school as a matter of right.” Justice Gupta held that the “argument that the wearing of a headscarf provides dignity to the girl students is also not tenable”. He said “the students are attending an all-girls’ college” and “are at liberty to carry their religious symbols outside the schools but in pre-university college, the students should look alike, feel alike, think alike and study together in a cohesive cordial atmosphere. That is the objective behind a uniform, so as to bring about uniformity in appearances”. Upholding the the power of the state government to constitute College Development Committees (CDCs) under the Karnataka Education Act, 1973 and delegate the decision to implement the uniform to it as per the February 5, 2022 Government Order (GO), he said the “intent and object” of the GO “is only to maintain uniformity amongst the students by adherence […]
