Asking a pre-university schoolgirl to take off her hijab at her school gate is an "invasion" of her privacy and dignity, Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said on Thursday.
The Karnataka high court on Thursday asked the counsels in the hijab case to wind up their arguments by Friday as it indicated that it will shortly deliver the order.
Mehta told a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia the PFI started the social media campaign over the Islamic headscarf earlier this year and there were continuous social media messages asking students to "start wearing hijab".
'Invoking 133 (2) of the Karnataka Education Act-1983, which says a uniform style of clothes has to be worn compulsorily. The private school administration can choose a uniform of their choice,' the government order said.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandarchud, and Justices V Ramasubramanian and J B Pardiwala, took note of the submissions of senior advocate Meenakshi Arora that an interim order was needed keeping in mind the practical examinations, scheduled for some classes from February 6 in the state.
The source also said Khadem's relatives and parents, who are in Iran, had also received threats, without giving further details.
Will not go to college without hijab: Udupi students
The petitioner states that the students' right to wear a hijab is a fundamental right guaranteed under Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution and is an essential practice of Islam.
The college reopened as practical examinations are scheduled to be held for pre-university (PU) students. For the PU section, only students appearing for the examination are being allowed entry into the college premises.
As many as 58 students at Shiralakoppa in Shivamogga district who had refused to remove their hijab and staged a demonstration against the government pre-university college administration were suspended.
While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the high court verdict, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed them.
The courts are not forums to solve "theological questions", Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said on Thursday in his verdict on the Karnataka hijab ban controversy.
Forty Muslim girl students from Udupi district of Karnataka abstained from appearing for the first pre-university examination on Tuesday as they were apparently hurt by the recent high court verdict against wearing of hijab inside classrooms.
Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code has been imposed in sensitive areas in the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada, and Bengaluru.
Senior counsel S S Naganand, representing the Government PU College for Girls, its principal and a teacher, on Wednesday told the full bench, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit, that the hijab row was started by some students owing allegiance to CFI.
The Government First Grade College at Uppinangady on Wednesday suspended six students for a week, after the principal held a meeting with faculty members in this connection.
Muthalik said the dress code is introduced so that there is no display of upper and lower caste or religious identities.
According to the lawyers appearing for the petitioner girls from Udupi district, the matter pertaining to hijab case has been listed for Tuesday as serial No. 1 and the court may spell out the operative part of the verdict from 10.30 am onwards.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said the high court is seized of the case and should be allowed to continue with the hearing and decide it.
He was commenting on a video that has surfaced on social media showing some men sporting saffron scarves heckling a woman in 'hijab' and raising slogans at a college in Karnataka.
He said the home and police department officials are keeping a watch on developments and track things in this connection.
"This court requests the students and the public to maintain peace and tranquility. This court has full faith in the wisdom and virtue of public at large and hopes that the same would be put to practice," the single bench of Justice Krishna S Dixit said.
Some Muslim girls and their relatives held a demonstration at a private college at Chaksu in Jaipur district on Friday when the students were not allowed to attend classes wearing burqas.
Khan's family said they could never see Tunisha in pain as she was "like their family member".
The government has already ordered closure of the degree and diploma colleges till February 16.
"The way the hijab imbroglio unfolded gives scope for the argument that some 'unseen hands' are at work to engineer social unrest and disharmony. Much is not necessary to specify," the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi said in the order.
A memorandum demanding action was submitted to the varsity by the Hindu Jagran Manch after a video clip surfaced.
A fresh plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday on the 'hijab' row in Karnataka, raising the issue of the right to practise religion as enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution.
It is necessary to have discipline in schools but not at the cost of freedom and dignity, Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said on Thursday in his judgment on the Karnataka hijab ban row.
'Definitely it is being orchestrated.' 'Political parties are indulging in it and trying to gain some points from communities and vote banks they depend upon for their political survival.'
Posting a picture of Gandhi walking with the girl wearing a hijab, Patra tweeted in Hindi, "When votes are accounted for on the basis of religion then it is called appeasement."
The Karnataka high court, which dismissed the batch of petitions by some Muslim girl students from Udupi seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms, said there was no material placed on record to prima facie show that wearing the headscarf was an essential religious practice.
The government girl's PU college in Udupi has categorically informed that students wearing hijab (Islamic headscarf) will not be allowed inside classrooms.
Challenging the government order restricting the use of any cloth that can disturb peace, harmony and, law and order, the girls who petitioned in favour of hijab requested the Karnataka high court on Monday to allow them to wear Islamic headscarves of the colour of the school uniform.
The Ameer-E-Shariat Karnataka, Maulana Sagir Ahmad Khan Rashadi, has called for a state-wide bandh on Thursday over the verdict of the high court ruling that the hijab was not essential to the practice of Islam.
American supermodel Halima Aden wants to reflect on her life and values as a Muslim woman.
A girl wearing hijab will become the prime minister of the country one day, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi has said amid the controversy over Muslim women's headscarves.
'Motivated comments' not welcome: India after US, Pak remarks on Hijab row
The bench pulled up some of the petitioners, who sought adjournment in the matter, and said it would not permit "this kind of forum shopping".
Stating that the issue has been closed after the syndicate meeting at Mangalore University, he asked students to focus on education instead of getting into such issues.
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