NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the right to dress cannot be taken an illogical level as it questioned Muslim girl students who sought to wear hijab in colleges in Karnataka.
"We cannot take this to illogical ends. If you say right to dress is a fundamental right then right to undress also becomes a fundamental right," a bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia said.
The court said the problem was one community was insisting of using head scarf, while all others followed the uniform.
Representing petitioner Muslim students, senior advocate Devdatt Kamat, claimed the right to dress was recognised under Article 19(1)(a) (freedom of speech and expression) of the Constitution by the Supreme Court.
He also said according to the constitutional standpoint, all religions are the manifestation of the one and the same. He cited the SC's judgement in Aruna Roy case which had referred to "Ekam Sad, Viprah Bahudah Vadanti" (Mahopnishad) (Truth is one, the wise perceive it differently).
The bench, however, asked him, "Do all religions accept this? Is that stream of thought accepted by all religions."
Sidestepping the query, the Counsel said he was merely paraphrasing the SC judgement.
Kamath opened his arguments on second day of hearing in matters arising out of the Karnataka High Court's March 15 judgement that upheld the ban on hijab in Pre University Colleges in Karnataka.
He said since the issue involved was a substantial question of constitutional importance, it should be referred to the Constitution bench.
Kamath said there has to be reasonable accommodation on the part of authorities to let students enjoy their fundamental rights under Article 19, 21 and 25 of the Constitution and get access to education.
Contending that he was challenging prescription of uniform, Kamath, at one point, said, "It is not Burqa, Jilbab, it is merely a head scarf as students from other faiths also used 'Tilak', 'Rudraksh' and 'cross' etc."
On this, the bench said, "no one is bothered of what one wears inside the shirt."
The arguments would continue on Thursday.
