Supreme Court Set To Review Bombay HC Verdict Upholding Hijab Ban By Mumbai College

The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea challenging Bombay High Court's decision upholding a Mumbai college’s ban on wearing hijabs, burqas, and naqabs on campus, as per a report by The Hindu.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra acknowledged on 8 August 2024, the concerns raised by a lawyer regarding the potential difficulties faced by minority community students due to the dress code.

Lawyer Abiha Zaidi, representing the petitioners, including Zainab Abdul Qayyum, requested an urgent hearing, citing the commencement of unit tests.

The Chief Justice assured, “It is coming up tomorrow [9 August]. I have already listed it.”

Earlier, the Bombay High Court had declined to intervene in the decision of the Chembur Trombay Education Society’s N G Acharya and D K Marathe College, which imposed the ban, ruling that such regulations do not infringe on students’ fundamental rights.

The High Court had held that the dress code was designed to maintain discipline and was part of the college’s fundamental right to “establish and administer an educational institution”.

The apex court has not yet delivered a definitive ruling on the legality of such dress code mandates by educational institutions.

On 13 October 2022, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court issued split verdicts regarding the hijab ban in Karnataka. The BJP-led state government had enforced a ban on the Islamic head covering in schools.

Justice Hemant Gupta, now retired, upheld the Karnataka High Court’s decision to maintain the ban, while Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia ruled that there should be no restrictions on wearing hijabs in schools and colleges in the state.

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