Hijab Row: Karnataka HC Refers Case to Larger Bench

The Karnataka High Court referred the hijab ban matter of the state to a larger bench on Wednesday.

The single bench has refused to pass interim orders permitting girls to attend colleges wearing hijab and said that an interim relief is to be considered by the larger bench.

"Having regard for the enormity of questions of importance which are being debated, the court is of the considered opinion that the papers be put at the hand of Chief Justice to decide if a larger bench can be constituted in the subject matter," said Justice Krishna Dixit.

Meanwhile, Karnataka police has banned protests, agitations, demonstrations and gathering within an area of 200-meter radius of schools, colleges or other similar educational institutions in Bengaluru for two weeks.

The court, which had heard petitions on the issue on Tuesday, appealed to the students and people to maintain peace and tranquility.

The state government on Tuesday announced the closure of high schools and colleges for the next three days following tensions over the hijab row in different parts of the state.

Earlier in the day, a massive protest march, led by Muslim women of several organizations was taken out in Karnataka’s Kalburgi demanding Hijab be allowed in the state’s educational institutes as the government reiterated its position of “no-compromise” on its circular to ban headscarves in public schools and colleges.

The hijab protests began last month at the Government Girls PU College in Udupi when six students alleged that they had been barred from classes for insisting on wearing the headscarf. Further, the students wearing saffron scarves confronted the Muslim students raising 'Jai Shri Ram' slogans. The school authorities intervened to keep both groups of students away from each other.