The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a Class 11 student seeking permission to wear a hijab, or headscarf, along with her prescribed school uniform.
A division bench of Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla held that the petitioner had failed to establish that wearing a headscarf was an essential religious practice protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. The court also upheld the right of an educational institution to enforce a uniform, non-discriminatory dress code.
The petition was filed by a minor student of Tagore Public School in Prayagraj through her mother. After completing Class 10, she was seeking admission to Class 11 in the same private, unaided school.
The student argued that she had been wearing a headscarf since Class 6 and wanted to continue wearing it alongside the prescribed school uniform. She claimed that the practice was protected as part of her religious freedom.
However, the school opposed the plea, maintaining that it had a uniform dress code applicable to all students. The Uttar Pradesh government and CBSE also opposed the petition.
The High Court said merely claiming that wearing a headscarf was an essential religious practice was not enough to invoke protection under Article 25.
In its judgment, delivered on August 21, the bench said:
“A claim, placing reliance upon Article 25 of the Constitution, cannot be accepted for the sake of mere assertion, without the necessary factual and legal foundation laid for the purpose.”
The court said the petition did not contain sufficient factual or legal material to establish that wearing a headscarf was obligatory for a Muslim woman in a manner that would affect her faith if she did not wear one.
The bench also noted that photographs from the student's classes showed that no other girl, including those from the same religious community, was wearing a headscarf.
The court also underlined the importance of a common dress code in educational institutions.
It held that a private educational institution can enforce its prescribed uniform as long as the policy is bona fide, non-discriminatory and intended to maintain discipline and institutional identity. Allowing individual students to modify the uniform based on personal preference, the court said, could defeat the purpose of having a common dress code.
The judgment makes it clear that the ruling does not arise from a blanket ban on religious expression. Instead, the court examined whether the student had established a legal right to modify the prescribed uniform by adding a headscarf—and concluded that she had not.
The Allahabad High Court also noted that other High Courts had previously considered the question of whether wearing a headscarf constitutes an essential religious practice under Islam.
It said there was no reason to take a view different from the Karnataka High Court's 2022 ruling, which had held that wearing a hijab was not an essential religious practice. The Supreme Court later delivered a split verdict while hearing challenges connected to the Karnataka case, and the larger issue has not been finally settled by a larger bench.
For now, the Allahabad High Court's ruling upholds the school's decision to enforce its existing uniform policy in this particular case.
The court's central finding was that the student had not provided sufficient material to establish that wearing a hijab or headscarf was an essential religious practice that would override the school's prescribed dress code.
The judgment also reinforces the principle that educational institutions can enforce a common uniform policy when it is applied equally and without discrimination.
