The Supreme Court will hear on Friday, August 9, a plea challenging the ban imposed by Mumbai-based Chembur Trombay Education Society’s N G Acharya and D K Marathe College on wearing burqa, hijab, niqab, stole, caps, or any kind of badges on campus.
Heading a bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on Thursday said that it will hear the matter on Friday after a mentioning by the petitioner students’ lawyer for early hearing.
The petitioner students’ approached the top court in an appeal against the Bombay High Court’s order refusing to interfere with the dress code prescribed by the college management.
As the advocate for the petitioner students urged the bench to hear the case on Thursday itself as exams are starting, the bench asked, “Are you being stopped from appearing in the exam?”
The advocate said, “If students do not adhere to the uniform policy. Please hear the case today.”
The bench said, “It is coming up (for hearing) tomorrow.”
On June 26, the Bombay High Court dismissed a plea by nine science students challenging the dress code, stating that the dress code “does not suffer from infirmity so as to violate provisions of Article 19(1)(a) and Article 25 of the Constitution.”
Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution guarantees right to freedom of expression and Article 25 guarantees the freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion.
The High Court had said that the object behind issuing the dress code is that the dress of a student should not reveal his/her religion which is a step towards ensuring that the students focus on gaining knowledge and education which is in their larger interest.”
The students in the second and third years of the BSc and BSc (Computer Science) programmes have claimed that the new dress code violates their fundamental rights to privacy, dignity, and religious freedom.
The college had told the High Court that the ban applies to all religious symbols and is not targeted at Muslims.