Quoting verses from Surah Al Bakra in Qur'an, Justice Krishna S Dixit said a pious Muslim owes a moral and religious duty to provide subsistence to his destitute ex-wife.
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 single judge of the Karnataka high court hearing the case related to the 'hijab' ban in school-college campuses referred the matter to Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday with a view that the CJ may decide on constituting a larger bench to look into the case.
"We will pass an order. Let the schools-colleges start. But till the matter is resolved, no student should insist on wearing religious dress," the CJ said.
"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.
The Karnataka high court, which dismissed a batch of petitions by some Muslim girls from Udupi seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms of educational institutions, framed the entire case in the form of four questions and answered them accordingly.
In its interim order issued by the three-judge full bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, the court also made it clear that the order was confined to such of the institutions wherein the College Development Committees have prescribed the student dress code or uniform.
The appeal contended that the high court has sought to curtail the fundamental right of Muslim student women by not allowing them to wear the hijab.
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