Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 12: The Supreme Court said on Monday in response to an argument that the Karnataka High Court should not have interpreted the Quran for the purpose of deciding the Hijab ban case that the High Court had no choice but to do so, given that it was argued that wearing of the hijab was an essential religious practice (ERP).
“You went to court and said this is an essential religious practice. What option does the High Court have but to point it out? Now you say High Court cannot do this,” the court said after Senior Advocate Yusuf Muchhala, appearing for one of the petitioners, argued that the High Court should not have gone into the interpretation of the Quran.
“It is only judicial wisdom to not touch a field in which they have no expertise. High Court when encountered with ERP should have said ‘hands off we cannot look into that’,” Muchhala responded.
The case contesting the hijab prohibition in Karnataka government educational institutions was being heard by the bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia.
Muchhala informed the court during his arguments that the High Court had incorrectly stated that hijabs were only recently being worn by pupils in government schools and universities.
He explained to the Bench that the petition contained examples of people who were refused admittance to educational institutions because they were wearing a headscarf. In reply, Justice Gupta said after the arguments were over, a Sikh woman tried to get involved because she and other Sikh women also wear turbans in public places.
The Court said that the petitioners should complete their arguments by Thursday and will take up the matter for hearing next on Wednesday, September 14.
