New Delhi: In the wake of a split verdict by the Supreme Court on the Karnataka hijab ban case on Thursday, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the decision of the Karnataka High Court was “bad in terms of law and content” and that the Quranic commentaries and translations were “misused”.
“According to me the decision of High Court was bad in law and bad in terms of its content, it misused Quranic commentaries and translations. Girls of Karnataka are wearing hijab because Allah has asked them to do so in Quran. BJP made it an issue out of it,” news agency ANI quoted Owaisi as saying.
The apex court on Thursday gave a split verdict in the Karnataka Hijab ban case as Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals challenging the Karnataka High Court's order which had upheld the state government's order to ban wearing hijabs in educational institutions of the state, while Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the appeals and set aside the High Court order.
“I was expecting a unanimous judgement in favour of girls going to school in Karnataka wearing hijab. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said that wearing a hijab is ultimately a matter of choice. The judgment by one of the judges from SC was in favour of hijab,” Owaisi said.
"It’s a matter of choice, nothing more, nothing less," Justice Dhulia said while pronouncing the order, while Justice Hemant Gupta said that the matter is being referred to the Chief Justice Of India (CJI) for appropriate direction.
"In view of a split verdict by Supreme Court, the order of the Karnataka High Court will remain applicable in the interim time," Advocate Barun Sinha said.
Notably, the high court on March 15 had dismissed the petitions filed by a section of Muslim students of the Government Pre-University Girls College in Karnataka's Udupi, seeking permission to wear the hijab inside classrooms. The court observed that it is not a part of the essential religious practice in the Islamic faith while it upheld the state government’s order.