Hijab case
Also called: Aishat Shifa v. State of Karnataka · Topic: Secularism: Western and Indian Models · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The hijab case, Aishat Shifa v. State of Karnataka, was decided on 13 October 2022. A two-judge bench of the Supreme Court gave a split verdict on Karnataka's ban on the hijab (headscarf) in government pre-university colleges. Because the judges disagreed, the matter went to a larger bench. It is a key case in the debate on the essential religious practices (ERP) test, under which courts decide which practices are essential to a religion.
Example
Justice Hemant Gupta upheld the ban. Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia struck it down, giving weight to the girls' choice and their education, and said the ERP test was irrelevant. The larger bench has still to decide the case (verify current).
Don't confuse with
- Sabarimala case (2018, 4:1): this was about women's entry into a temple, and a five-judge majority struck down the ban on women aged 10-50. The hijab case was about a dress rule in colleges and ended in a split.
- Laïcité: France banned conspicuous religious symbols in state schools in 2004 as national policy. In India, the hijab question is being decided by the courts under Art. 25.