Prayagraj: The Allahabad high court has dismissed a petition seeking permission for a student to wear a headscarf along with her school uniform, observing that no factual or legal material had been placed before it to establish that wearing a headscarf is an essential religious practice in Islam.The court also noted that no other girl student in the school, including those from the same religious community, was wearing a headscarf.The petition was filed by a minor student of Tagore Public School, Prayagraj, through her mother. Having passed high school, she sought admission to Class XI in the same institution and approached the HC for permission to wear a headscarf in addition to the prescribed school uniform.A bench comprising Justice JJ Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla observed, “We have perused the photographs from various classes relating to the petitioner. Except her, no other girl student is donning the headscarf, even those belonging to the same religious community. The HCs have been unanimous in their opinion that wearing a headscarf is not an essential part of the Islamic faith for a woman to don, in the absence of which, faith would be jeopardised.”“Here, no such factual foundation has been laid or material placed on record to establish a case that the donning of a headscarf is an essential part of religion for a Muslim female, forsaking which would oust the girl or woman concerned from the faith that she professes and practices,” the court added.In its judgment passed on Aug 21, the court also observed, “The assertion in the writ petition that wearing a headscarf is an essential religious practice is a bare assertion.”“A claim placing reliance upon Article 25 (right to religious freedom) of the Constitution cannot be accepted for the sake of mere assertion, without the necessary factual and legal foundation laid for the purpose. Perusal of the writ petition shows that there are no pleadings to that effect by the petitioner, except that she has been doing it since she was a child and ever since she joined the school in Class VI,” the HC added.
