Supreme Court stays Hijab ban in Mumbai college

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The Supreme Court has partly stayed a circular of a Mumbai based college on Hijab ban, the PTI reported on Friday.

The apex court has stayed the circular of Mumbai college banning Hijab, burqa, cap and naqab' inside campus, as per the PTI.

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Educational institutions, it said, "cannot force on them their choice."

"Suddenly you wake up to know there are many religions in country," the Supreme Court said to Mumbai college on circular banning hijab, naqab on campus, according to the PTI.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar issued notice to the Chembur Trombay Education Society, which runs the 'N G Acharya and D K Marathe College', and sought its response by November 18.

"Girl students must have freedom of choice in what they are wearing and college cannot force them...It's unfortunate that you suddenly wake up to know that there are many religions in the country," the bench told the college administration at the centre of a fresh row over a dress code for Muslim students, as per the PTI.

It added why the college did not ban 'tilak' and 'bindi' if it intended the religious faiths of the students to not be revealed.

"Will the students' names not reveal their religious identity?" the bench asked senior advocate Madhavi Diwan, appearing for the educational society.

The court, however, said no burqa can be allowed to be worn by girls inside the classroom and no religious activities can be permitted on the campus.

The bench said its interim order should not be misused by anybody and granted liberty to the educational society and the college to approach the court in case of any misuse.

Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves and advocate Abiha Zaidi, appearing for the petitioners, including Zainab Abdul Qayyum, submitted that students were not able to attend classes because of the ban.

Earlier, the Supreme Court said it has listed for hearing on Friday a plea challenging the verdict of the Bombay High Court (HC) which had upheld a decision of a Mumbai college to impose a ban on wearing of 'hijab', 'burqa' and 'naqab' inside the institute's campus, news agency PTI reported.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of a lawyer that the term exam is commencing from Wednesday and the students, belonging from a minority community, are bound to face difficulties owing to the instructions imposed over the dress code.

Lawyer Abiha Zaidi, appearing for petitioners, including Zainab Abdul Qayyum, sought an urgent hearing as the unit tests in the college are commencing.

The Bombay High Court had on June 26 refused to interfere with the decision of the Chembur Trombay Education Society's N G Acharya and D K Marathe College imposing the ban on the grounds that such rules do not violate students' fundamental rights.

(with PTI inputs)