Will Not Permit Forum Shopping- Supreme Court After Petitioners In Hijab Cases Seek Adjournment

The Supreme Court today adjourned the petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court's order upholding the state's ban on Hijab in government schools. The Petitioners had circulated a letter seeking an adjournment. The Court issued notice and adjourned the cases to Monday.

The Bench comprising of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia expressed displeasure over the prayer for adjournment and said, "This is not acceptable. You wanted urgent listing and when the matter is listed, you are seeking adjournment. We will not permit forum shopping".

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the State of Karnataka told the Court that the Petitioners have mentioned the cases citing urgency at least 9 times.

The Counsel for the Petitioner said that the matter was mentioned because of the then impending examinations. When the Counsel said that some Counsel come for Karnataka, the Court observed that Karnataka is only two and a half hours away.

The judgment passed by the Karnataka High Court on March 15 has been challenged by a batch of petitions filed in the Apex Court. The Karnataka High Court had in the impugned judgment dismissed the writ petitions and held that hijab is not an essential religious practice in the Islamic faith.

The High Court had also held that the prescription of school uniform is a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible and that the Government had the power to pass Government Orders and there was no case made out for the invalidation of that order. The order was challenged in the Supreme Court and was mentioned on several occasions.