The Supreme Court turned down a PIL today that asked for an expedited hearing and asked the Center and the states to impose a uniform clothing code for faculty members and students in accredited educational institutions to ensure equality, foster brotherhood, and advance national integration.
Attorney Ashwini Upadhyay requested the bench presided over by Chief Justice NV Ramana to schedule his PIL for consideration among the group of appeals brought against the Karnataka High Court ruling on the hijab controversy.
The petitions against the Karnataka High Court decision refusing to abolish the hijab prohibition in public places would be listed next week, the bench, which also included justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, noted in their meeting on Wednesday.
Mr. Upadhyay stated at the opening that this is a concern relating to the standard dress code.
“We’ve explained this to you several times. Could you not make me repeat myself? Each day, you submit a PIL. How many legal cases have you brought? as if frequent lawsuits didn’t occur. I have no idea about any situation you bring up. It will happen when it’s time. Wait for…, “said the bench.
“Yesterday, Your Lordship consented to hear the hijab issue. This PIL was submitted in February, “explained Mr. Upadhyay.
Nikhil Upadhyay, via attorneys Ashwini Upadhyay and Ashwani Dubey, filed a PIL in February asking the Supreme Court to adopt a uniform clothing code at educational institutions in response to the hijab controversy.
The petition also asks that the Center be instructed to form a commission of judges or an expert panel to recommend ways to instill in students the concepts of “social and economic justice, socialism secularism and democracy and to promote brotherhood dignity unity and national cohesion.”
Alternatively, it stated, “directing the Law Commission of India to draught a report outlining methods to achieve social equality and to promote fraternity dignity unity and national integration within three months. You are the custodian of the Constitution and guardian of fundamental rights.
The Law Commission has joined the PIL as a party, along with the Center, the States, and the Union Territories. The PIL asks the Respondent Authorities to “strictly implement a common dress code for staff and students in all the registered and recognized educational institutions to secure equality of status and social equality and to promote fraternity dignity unity, national integration.”
It referred to a few demonstrations against the hijab restrictions in Karnataka that were staged in the nation’s capital on February 10.
The PIL said educational institutions are secular public spaces intended to convey information and wisdom rather than to adhere to mandatory or optional religious rituals. They also aim to promote employment, good health, and nation-building.
To maintain the secular nature of educational institutions, a uniform dress code must be implemented in all schools and colleges, the statement read. If not, Naga Sadhus may apply for admission to colleges tomorrow and show up to class incognito, citing a necessary religious practice.
According to the petition, the single clothing code is required to preserve consistency and foster a feeling of community among students from various castes, creeds, faiths, religions, cultures, and locations.
According to a poll, around 2,50,000 weapons were taken into schools and colleges in 2018; it referred to the dress code in nations including the US, the UK, France, Singapore, and China.
Therefore, a uniform clothing rule that forces students to wear their beltlines out lessens the risk of a concealed weapon A few female students who were wearing hijabs were sent away from a government pre-university institution in Udupi, Karnataka, near the end of December, which is when the hijab controversy first gained traction. Some Hindu students showed up as a counter wearing saffron scarves.
The conflict expanded to other state-run educational institutions, and some protests turned violent.
