Allahabad High Court Rejects Student’s Plea to Wear Hijab With School Uniform
The court says the student did not establish that wearing a headscarf is an essential religious practice in Islam.
Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a Muslim student’s petition seeking permission to wear a hijab or headscarf along with the prescribed school uniform.
A division bench of Justice J J Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla passed the judgment on August 21 while hearing a petition filed by a minor student of Tagore Public School in Attarsuiya, Prayagraj.
The student, identified in court records as Sukaina Rizvi, had completed Class X and was seeking admission to Class XI at the same school. She approached the court through her mother, asking for permission to continue wearing a headscarf with the school uniform.
According to the petition, Rizvi had studied at the school from Class VI to Class X and had worn a headscarf during those years without facing any objection from the school authorities.
The school opposed the request, maintaining that wearing an additional headscarf would not comply with its prescribed uniform and dress code.
In its judgment, the High Court said the student had not provided sufficient factual or legal evidence to establish that wearing a headscarf was an essential religious practice in Islam. The court noted that the student had not shown that not wearing a headscarf would affect the fundamental nature of her faith.
The bench also referred to photographs from the school and observed that no other girl student was seen wearing a headscarf, including students from the same religious community.
The court considered previous judgments dealing with the issue and noted that courts that had examined the question had generally not treated wearing a headscarf as an essential religious practice for Muslim women.
The bench also examined the Karnataka High Court’s 2022 Full Bench ruling on restrictions concerning hijab in educational institutions. The Allahabad High Court noted that the Supreme Court had subsequently delivered a split verdict in the matter, meaning there was no final authoritative ruling settling the issue.
Against this background, the Allahabad High Court said the Karnataka Full Bench decision continued to carry significant persuasive value. The bench said it saw no sufficient reason to adopt a different position.
The court further held that schools have the authority to prescribe and enforce a uniform when their dress code is applied uniformly, honestly and without discrimination, particularly when the purpose is to maintain discipline and preserve the identity of the institution.
The student had also argued that because the school had previously allowed her to wear a headscarf, she should be permitted to continue the practice.
The court rejected this argument, saying that the school’s earlier failure to object could have resulted from various reasons, including non enforcement, inaction or courtesy. Such past conduct, the bench held, did not create a permanent legal right to continue wearing the headscarf after admission to Class XI.
The High Court ultimately upheld the school’s authority to enforce its prescribed uniform and dismissed the student’s petition.
The judgment comes amid an ongoing legal debate in India over the wearing of hijab in educational institutions. The issue remains unsettled at the national level following the split verdict of the Supreme Court in the Karnataka hijab case.