Hijab row: Three-judge panel comprising CJ Ritu Raj Awasthi formed

The Chief Justice of the Karnataka HC, Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday constituted a full bench comprising himself, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice JM Khazi which will look into the Hijab issue on Thursday.

The Chief Justice of the Karnataka High Court Ritu Raj Awasthi on Wednesday constituted a full bench comprising himself, Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi which will look into the Hijab issue on Thursday.

After Justice Dixit referred the case for Chief Justice Awasthi’s consideration with a view that he may decide on constituting a larger bench to look into it, the panel was formed, which will hear the case on Thursday.

The state cabinet, which met earlier before the HC order came in, decided to await the verdict before taking any decision on the issue which has snowballed into a major row.

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Calm prevailed today in the educational institutions which witnessed tense moments over the Hijab row earlier, as the state government had on Tuesday ordered closure of all high schools and colleges in the state for three days. Most of them returned to the online mode of teaching, sources said. Primary schools functioned as usual across the state without any interruption.

Justice Krishna S Dixit who was hearing since Tuesday a batch of petitions against Hijab ban in classrooms filed by Muslim students from Udupi district, maintained that these matters give rise to certain constitutional questions of seminal importance in view of certain aspects of personal law.

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