Moving the Mumbai High Court, the petitioners argued that the ban was arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law and perverse.
Team Clarion
MUMBAI – Days after a teacher at a private law college, affiliated with the University of Calcutta, resigned and stopped attending classes over the hijab issue, nine students have approached the Bombay High Court contesting a directive issued by their college that bans hijab, burqa, and niqab in the classroom.
Sanjida Qadar, a teacher at LJD Law College for the past three years, resigned on June 5, alleging that the college authorities had instructed her not to wear a hijab at the workplace after May 31.
However, as the matter became public and sparked an uproar, the college authorities claimed that it resulted from miscommunication.
In Mumbai, the nine petitioning students are from the Chembur Trombay Education Society’s NG Acharya and DK Marathe College. On May 1, the petition said, the college circulated a notice through its WhatsApp group which includes both faculty members and students imposing a dress code restricting the use of burqa, niqab, and hijab, as well as badges, caps, and stoles.
The petitioners, second and third-year degree students, argue that the ban is “arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law and perverse.” They say that the niqab, burqa, and hijab are integral to their religious beliefs and that the college’s directive infringes on their fundamental rights.
The case is set to be heard by a bench headed by Justice AS Chandurkar next week.
The students contend that this directive constitutes a “colourable exercise of power.” Initially, they approached the college management and principal, requesting the withdrawal of the restrictions as a matter of right, citing choice, dignity, and privacy in the classroom. They also appealed to the chancellor, vice chancellor of the university, and the University Grants Commission, seeking intervention to uphold the principle of imparting education without discrimination.
With no response forthcoming from anywhere, the students filed the petition asserting that the college notice was issued without any authority of law, rendering it null and void.
The petitioners have asked the high court to quash the college notice and allow them to exercise their right to wear religious attire in the classroom.
