Karnataka govt deploys additional security in sensitive areas after SC split verdict on Hijab ban

Following a split verdict by the Supreme Court on Thursday on the petitions challenging the hijab ban in the southern state of Karnataka at the educational institutions Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that additional police personnel have been deployed in sensitive areasThe Karnataka Home Minister said that the apex court placed the appeals before the Chief Justice of India for the constitution of a larger bench and further decision will be taken by the CJIThe case has been transferred to CJI bench It depends on what CJI will decide on the matter We are waiting for the judgement of the Supreme court We have taken enough security measures and have deployed additional police personnel in sensitive areas he saidAlso read Bar Association seeks 5 judges bench for Hijab issue writes to CJIHe further said There are two different judgements One judge has rejected the plea of petitioners and another judge has nullified the order of the Karnataka High court The ball is now in CJI court and we are looking forward to the outcomeEarlier the Karnataka government announced that High Courts order upholding the ban on hijab in educational institutions in the state will continue pending a final decision in the Supreme Court which today pronounced a split verdict on appeals challenging the restriction on girls and women wearing the headscarves in schools and collegesState education minister BC Nagesh said that the ban on wearing hijab in educational institutions in the state will remain for nowShortly after the Supreme Court delivered its split verdict the minister said we expect a better judgement stating that women worldwide are demanding to not wear hijab and burqaWhen asked about organisations supporting the wearing of the hijab in educational institutions the Karnataka minister said They will always want to split this society They are using hijab to split the societyMeanwhile Advocate Barun Sinha representing the Hindu Sena said that in view of a split verdict by the Supreme Court the order of the Karnataka High Court will remain applicable in the interim timeA twojudge bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia pronounced the judgement todayWhile Justice Hemant Gupta stated that was a divergence of opinion as he dismissed the bunch of petitions against the March 15 Karnataka High Court order on the hijab matter Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the appeals and set aside the HC verdictIts a matter of choice nothing more nothing less Justice Dhulia said while pronouncing the orderJustice Gupta said There is a divergence of opinion In my order I have framed 11 questions First is whether the appeal should be referred to the Constitution BenchAdvocate Ezaz Maqbool representing the petitioner said that the matter will be placed before the Chief Justice of India and he will decide whether a new bench will hear the matter or the matter gets referred to a larger benchThe apex court had earlier reserved its order on various petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court upholding the ban on hijab in educational institutesThe arguments in the matter went on for 10 days in which 21 lawyers from the petitioners side and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj Karnataka Advocate General Prabhuling Navadgi argued for the respondentsThe court was hearing various pleas challenging the Karnataka HCs judgement upholding the Karnataka Governments decision to direct educational institutes to prescribe uniforms in educational institutesOne of the appeals in the top court had alleged stepmotherly behaviour of government authorities which has prevented students from practising their faith and resulted in an unwanted law and order situationThe appeal said the High Court in its impugned order had vehemently failed to apply its mind and was unable to understand the gravity of the situation as well as the core aspect of the Essential Religious Practices enshrined under Article 25 of the Constitution of IndiaA bench of Karnataka High Court comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi had earlier held that the prescription of uniform is a reasonable restriction that students could not object to and dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on hijab in education institutions saying they are without meritThe hijab row erupted in January this year when the Government PU College in Udupi allegedly barred six girls wearing the hijab from entering Following this the girls sat in protest outside the college over being denied entryAfter this boys of several colleges in Udupi started attending classes wearing saffron scarves This protest spread to other parts of the state as well leading to protests and agitations in several places in KarnatakaAs a result the Karnataka government said that all students must adhere to the uniform and banned both hijab and saffron scarves till an expert committee decided on the issueOn February 5 the preUniversity education board released a circular stating that the students could only wear the uniform approved by the school administration and no other religious attire would be allowed in collegesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever