Judgement on Hijab Case is very Bad and is a Sign of Ideological Bias, Advocate Colin Gonzalves
The Hijab case decision is very bad and such a decision is a sign of ideological bias, advocate Colin Gonzales
Bangalore: Advocate Colin Gonzales, a well-known lawyer of the Supreme Court, while addressing a meeting during his tour of Bangalore, highlighted the atrocities on women.
Gonzales, especially regarding the hijab controversy and case said that the judgment on Hijab is very bad and said that such a decision is a sign of ideological bias. Advocate Colin openly criticized the judgement as to how an Indian judge can give such a decision.
Colin Gonzalves said that the right-wing forces are certainly powerful, but lawyers should prepare well in cases of atrocities against minority groups, make solid arguments and fight the case with great courage, then certainly the victims. There will be decisions of justice in the right.
It should be remembered that a few months ago, a constitutional bench consisting of two judges of the Supreme Court gave a very surprising decision on the “Hijab” case, it was a split verdict. Now the matter will be heard by a large constitutional bench headed by the Chief Justice of India.
The judgment containing a total of 209 pages could not make any submissions. Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia held conflicting views on various aspects of the issues ranging from the interpretation of reasonable restrictions on fundamental rights to the fundamental rights of individuals and the state’s rights to education of young Muslim women.
The split verdict was passed while dealing with a clutch of appeals against the March 15, 2022 order of the Karnataka High Court, which had dismissed the challenge to the February 5 Government Order (GO) that allowed pre-university schools The use of uniform was made compulsory.
It should be noted that six girls were not allowed to wear hijab in the classrooms in Government PU College in Udupi city of Karnataka.
As a result, the students approached the Karnataka High Court against the ban on the hijab, and requested to declare that wearing the hijab is a fundamental right guaranteed under the Constitution of India.
At the same time, the Karnataka government imposed a ban on Hijab in classrooms. In a circular endorsing decisions banning Muslim female students of state educational institutions from wearing the hijab, the Karnataka government said “garbage that disturbs equality, integrity and public order shall not be worn”.
Due to this issue, clashes broke out between two groups of students in Udupi District College. Section 144 is enforced in Shivamogga to deal with the situation. Chief Minister Baswaraj Bomai ordered closure of all high schools and colleges for a few days.
In this case, the Karnataka High Court passed an interim order stating that colleges in the state can reopen, but students cannot be allowed to wear religious dress until the matter is pending.
Petitions against the interim order were filed in the Supreme Court.
The Karnataka High Court had ruled that hijab is not a fundamental or essential part of Islamic religious practice, upholding the state government’s ban on wearing headscarves in educational institutions. Later the decision was challenged in the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the petitions filed against the High Court’s decision and in the month of September last year, the Supreme Court reserved its decision on the petitions against the order of the High Court.
And finally the Supreme Court delivered a split verdict and was directed to file an appeal against the order of the High Court to constitute a larger bench.
