A Supreme Court panel hearing a number of appeals against the Karnataka high court's ruling on the legality of Muslim girls wearing the hijab as part of their school uniform on Friday rejected a petition calling for a uniform dress code in all schools and colleges, stating that courts are not authorised to make such decisions.
A bench of justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia stated, "It is not within the purview of the Court to give such an order.
The decision was made in response to a public interest lawsuit (PIL) Nikhil Upadhyay filed, in which he requested that all registered and recognised educational institutions impose a "single dress code" for employees and students. The petitioner, who is the son of BJP leader and attorney Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, said in his submission that enforcing such a clothing code would ensure social equality and foster fraternity and national unification.
Upadhyay was permitted to drop the petition and pursue his legal remedies since the bench was unwilling to consider the argument.