Justice Hemant Gupta In his verdict upholding the March 15 Karnataka High Court ruling validating the ban on wearing hijab in classrooms, Justice Hemant Gupta rejected the argument that denying students the right to wear a headscarf also denies them the right to attend classes, saying “it would… not amount to denial of right to education if a student, by choice, does not attend the school.” “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 […]
