A full bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justices Krishna S Dixit and JM Khazi resumes hearing arguments on Tuesday.
Advocate Sanjay Hegde is appearing for the Udupi college students whereas Senior advocate Devdatt Kamat is appearing for the petitioners from Kundapura.
On Monday, Senior advocate Devdatt Kamat while discussing the two sections of the Constitution’s Article 25, which discuss religious freedoms, had questioned, “Where is that Law on the basis of which the headscarf is prohibited”.
“The declaration made by the government that wearing of headscarf is not protected by Article 25 is totally erroneous,” he further stated.
Even Kendriya Vidyalaya permit Hijab of same uniform colour, Mr Kamat pointed out. “Kendriya Vidyalayas even today they permit by a notification, that even though they have a uniform, Muslim girls are permitted to wear a headscarf of the uniform colour,” he said.
Devadatt Kamat, who was representing the petitioner, pointed to a South African court’s decision on whether a Hindu girl with South Indian heritage might wear a nose ring to school. He cited the ruling, which stated that this lawsuit is not about uniforms, but rather about exemptions from current uniforms. He went on to say that our Constitution is based on positive secularism, as opposed to Turkish secularism, which is based on negative secularism. He went on to say that our secularism guarantees that everyone’s religious rights are protected.
Hearing in the #HijabRow matter before Karnataka High Court to continue tomorrow, 16th February.
