Amid Hijab row, K' taka government to wait for High Court's decision

The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi and Justice Krishna S Dixit, who had already presided on the matter, and Justice Jayabunnisa M Khazi will hear the matter on Thursday.

Bengaluru (Karnataka):As the Karnataka hijab ban row snowballed into a controversy, the Cabinet has decided to wait for the High court's verdict before proceeding further on the issue. The Karnataka High Court resumed hearing on the petitions filed by five girls of a Government Pre-university College in Udupi, questioning hijab restriction in the college.

The three-judge bench led by Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S Dixit, who had already presided on the matter, and Justice Jayabunnisa M Khazi will hear the issue on Thursday.

"We (at the Cabinet) discussed the hijab row, but as the High Court is hearing the matter, we felt it is not appropriate for the Cabinet to take any further decisions on the issue today. It was decided to wait for the court's verdict before taking any decision," Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy said adding that as the matter is sub-judice, discussing it will not be appropriate, as material and merit of the case will get involved.

As protests for and against the hijab intensified in different parts of Karnataka and turned violent in some places, the government had declared a holiday to all high schools and colleges in the state for three days.

Last week, the government had issued an order to make uniforms prescribed by it or management of private institutions mandatory for its students at schools and pre-university colleges across the state.

READ:Watch | Hijab Row: An Explainer