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The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has moved the Supreme Court challenging the Karnataka High Court judgment, which upheld the ban on hijab in classrooms, holding that the wearing of headscarves by Muslim women was not an essential religious practice.
The board has moved the top court along with two other petitioners namely, Munisa Bushra and Jaleesa Sultana Yaseen.
The plea said the high court judgment, while dismissing the petitions, has proceeded with erroneous reasons to address the issue.
The plea said:
The plea contended that laying too much emphasis on bringing "uniformity" in the uniform without accommodating a person of one religion 'to cover her hair with a piece of cloth' is travesty of justice, and the judgment also ignores the doctrine of reasonable accommodation.
The plea said: "The determination of essentials under the principles of essential religious practice (ERP) had started with the idea of determination of essential religious practice that fell within the complete autonomy of the religious denomination in the matters of deciding as to what rites and ceremonies are essential according to tenets of a religion."
The plea contended that while dealing with the issue of protection of the fundamental rights, the high court judgment has given completely erroneous interpretation to the concept of intelligible differentia.
"It is completely irrational and against the objective of maintaining diversity as contemplated in the Constitution of India," it said.
A clutch of pleas has been moved in the apex court challenging the high court decision.
Another plea filed through advocate Adeel Ahmed and Rahamathullah Kothwal said the high court order creates an unreasonable classification between the non-Muslim female students and the Muslim female students and thereby is in straight violation of the concept of secularism which forms the basic structure of the Indian Constitution. The petitioners are Mohamed Arif Jameel and others.
The plea said: "The impugned order is also in sheer violation of the Article 14, 15, 19, 21 and 25 of the Indian Constitution and also violates the core principles of the International Conventions that India is a signatory to."
It further added, "Being aggrieved by the impugned Government Order, as it is in violation of Indian constitution, the petitioner had approached the Hon'ble High Court by way of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition challenging the validity of the same."
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