Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday upheld the hijab ban and dismissed various petitions challenging a ban on hijab in education institutions. The high court said that wearing hijab “is not an essential religious practice of Islam.” The case pertains to the demand by a section of girls in a Udupi pre-university college to wear Hijab on the campus, which snowballed into a major controversy after some students turned up in saffron shawls. The row spread to other parts of the state with the state government insisting on a uniform norm for all students.

The three judge bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi will delivered their verdict at 10.30am today. On February 25, after a marathon hearing which commenced from February 10, the bench had reserved its verdict in the case for today.

The controversy came to the fore in December 2021 when the Government Pre-University College in Kundapura issued a circular which imposed a ban on wearing hijab in classrooms. Some students were not allowed to enter classrooms due to this rule, which was met with a considerable uproar.

A minister who is part of Mr Modi’s government welcomed the order.

“I appeal to everyone that the state and country has to go forward, everyone has to maintain peace by accepting the order of high court,” said Prahlad Joshi, federal minister for parliamentary affairs.