Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday dismissed a plea by female students challenging a Mumbai college’s ban on wearing hijab, niqab, burkha, stole, cap, and similar items on campus.
A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Rajesh Patil refused to intervene in the college’s decision, dismissing the petition filed by nine female students. These students, in their second and third years of a science degree, opposed the directive issued by Chembur Trombay Education Society’s NG Acharya and DK Marathe College, which imposed a dress code barring such attire.
The petitioners argued that the directive violated their fundamental rights to religious practice, privacy, and personal choice. They described the college’s action as “arbitrary, unreasonable, bad-in-law, and perverse.”
Advocate Altaf Khan, representing the petitioners, distinguished this case from the Karnataka High Court’s ruling on the hijab ban in junior colleges, emphasizing that this case involves senior college students who have a dress code but not a uniform.
He argued that the dress code was imposed informally via WhatsApp without legal authority, unlike the Karnataka case, which enforced a pre-existing uniform policy. Khan contended that the dress code infringes on the petitioners’ rights to choice, bodily integrity, and autonomy.
The college authorities maintained that the decision was a disciplinary measure and not targeted at the Muslim community. Senior counsel Anil Anturkar, representing the college management, stated that the dress code applied to all students, regardless of religion or caste. The students, however, claimed the directive was a “colorable exercise of power.”
