The court said the student failed to establish that wearing a headscarf was an essential religious practice and held that a uniform, non-discriminatory dress code can be enforced by the school.
The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition by a minor student seeking permission to wear a hijab or headscarf along with the prescribed school uniform, holding that the petitioner did not provide sufficient factual or legal material to establish that wearing a headscarf was an essential religious practice protected under Article 25 of the Constitution.
A division bench of Justices J J Munir and Indrajeet Shukla delivered the judgment in a case concerning a student of Tagore Public School in Attarsuiya, Prayagraj. The student, who had completed Class X, had sought admission to Class XI in the same institution while continuing to wear a headscarf with the prescribed uniform.
The student, through her mother, told the court that she had been wearing the headscarf while studying at the school from Classes VI to X. She argued that preventing her from continuing to wear it infringed her constitutional rights, including freedom of expression and religious freedom. The school administration, Uttar Pradesh government and CBSE opposed the plea.
The bench, however, found that the petition did not establish the religious necessity claimed by the student. The court also referred to photographs from different classes and noted that no other girl in the school, including students from the same religious community, was wearing a headscarf. It observed that a mere assertion that a practice is essential to a religion is not sufficient to invoke the protection of Article 25.
School Uniform Policy Upheld
The court held that a school can enforce a prescribed dress code when the policy is uniform, bona fide and non-discriminatory and is intended to maintain discipline and the institution's identity. The judgment also recognised the role of a common uniform in promoting equality and a religion-neutral atmosphere in educational institutions.
The bench further held that the fact that the school had previously permitted the student to wear a headscarf did not create a permanent right to continue doing so. The dispute therefore turned not only on the student's individual preference but also on whether the claimed religious practice had the constitutional protection necessary to override the institution's uniform policy.
Court Refers to Earlier Rulings
While deciding the petition, the Allahabad High Court considered earlier judgments involving religious attire and educational institutions. It referred in particular to the Karnataka High Court's 2022 full-bench judgment on the hijab issue, describing it as persuasive authority and finding no reason to take a different view on the question of whether wearing a hijab had been established as an essential religious practice.
The bench also noted that the Karnataka judgment was later considered by the Supreme Court in Aishat Shifa v State of Karnataka, where a two-judge bench delivered a split verdict. As a result, the Allahabad High Court noted that there is no final authoritative Supreme Court ruling settling the issue of whether wearing a hijab constitutes an essential religious practice.
The ruling comes in the context of continuing legal debate over the balance between individual religious expression and institutional dress codes. In this case, the High Court ultimately upheld the school's authority to enforce its uniform policy and dismissed the student's plea.
