Mumbai college issues ban on hijab, burka and naqab, students move HC

What is the notice about?

As many as nine students from NG Acharya and DK Marathe College in Mumbai moved the Bombay High Court to challenge the directive which was issued by their college regarding the ban on hijab, burka and naqab in the classrooms, stated a report by PTI.

"arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law and perverse" — is what they called the ban imposed by the Chembur Trombay Education Society' s NG Acharya and DK Marathe College. This is directly from the petition filed by third-year degree students of the college. They also called the directive "nothing but colourable exercise of power".

The petition will be heard next week by a bench headed by Justice AS Chandurkar.

On May 1, a notice and a message was circulated via the WhatsApp group of NG Acharya and DK Marathe College regarding the imposition of a ban on burka, naqab, hijab, badges, cap and stole, plus emphasising adherence to the strict dress code. The WhatsApp group also includes faculty members and students.

It was the argument of the petitioners that the naqab, burka and hijab are important parts of their religious belief and going ahead with the imposition of this ban would violate their fundamental rights.

It may be noted that first, the petitioners approached the college management and principal, to lift the restriction as it "as a matter of right of choice, dignity and privacy in the classroom". They also attempted to raise the grievance with the chancellor and vice-chancellor of the university as well as the University Grants Commission (UGC), urging their intervention  "to upkeep the spirit of imparting education to all citizens without discrimination". But to no avail.

Hence, they filed a petition with the high court. The petition also stated that the notice was issued without any authority of law and was hence bad-in-law, null and void. The plea seeks to quash the notice.