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On Friday, the Supreme Court (SC) partly stayed a directive by a city college that prohibited students from wearing religious attire on campus, as it affirmed that students should be free to choose what they wear.
Stay On Prohibition On Hijab
In its interim order, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar put a stay on the prohibition on wearing hijab (headscarf), badge and cap, while allowing the institute to continue restricting naqab (face veil) in classrooms. The court also issued notice to the Chembur Trombay Education Society, which runs the N G Acharya and D K Marathe College at Chembur, and sought its response by November 18.
The stay comes more than a month after the Bombay High Court (HC) upheld the the college's new 'dress code', which required students to wear 'decent and formal' attire and banned religious markers, specifically mentioning hijab, naqab, burqa, stole, cap and badge. The directive, which were issued before the new academic year, were met with severe backslash, especially from the institute's female Muslim students who believed that it encroached on their religious and personal freedoms.
The Friday Hearing Outcome
During the hearing on Friday, the SC bench told the college administration, "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."
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 niqab can be allowed to be worn by girls inside the classroom, after Diwan contended that the face covering hinders interaction.
The bench also 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.
Supreme Court Hears The Plea
The top court was hearing a plea by three Muslim students, which was drafted by advocate Hamza Lakdawala, challenging the HC verdict. Senior advocate Colin Gonsalves and advocate Abiha Zaidi, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that students were not able to attend classes because of the ban.
FPJ had previously reported that, following the HC ruling, the college had evicted from classrooms not only those donning the religious attire, but also the other students who wore jeans and t-shirts, clothing deemed violative of its sartorial rules. This led to many of the students, including some of the original petitioners in the matter, leaving the college for other institutes. Some of them have stopped attending their lectures and practicals.
The Muslim women affected by the dress code heaved a sigh of relief following the apex court's order. "I have been attending lectures without my coverings for the last few weeks. It has been a very uncomfortable experience and I could never get accustomed to it. I am glad that the court has put a stay on the dress code," said a student.
One of the petitioners, who had stopped going to the college post-hijab ban, said that she now plans to attend the classes from Saturday. "We hope that the college will allow us to wear niqab too," she said.
Meanwhile, Vidyagauri Lele, principal of the college, refused to speak on the issue citing restrictions from the college management. Subodh Acharya, the general secretary of Chembur Trombay Education Society and a Shiv Sena UBT leader, said that he is unaware of the court's order.
