The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a Class XI student seeking permission to wear a headscarf along with the prescribed school uniform, holding that a private unaided school is entitled to enforce a uniform dress code to maintain discipline, equality and institutional identity.
A Division Bench of Justice J.J. Munir and Justice Indrajeet Shukla dismissed the petition filed by Sukaina Rizvi, a student of Tagore Public School, Attarsuiya, Prayagraj. The court held that the petitioner could not claim an enforceable right to alter or add to the school’s prescribed uniform merely because she had worn a headscarf during her earlier years in the institution.
The petitioner had approached the court through her mother after the school allegedly refused to admit her to Class XI while permitting her to continue wearing a headscarf. She contended that she had studied in the same school from Classes VI to X and had worn a scarf without objection from the school authorities.
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According to the petition, the student sought to wear the headscarf in addition to the prescribed uniform and argued that her right to do so was protected under Articles 14, 19(1)(a) and 25 of the Constitution. She also claimed that wearing the scarf was connected to her religious beliefs and personal dignity.
The school, however, maintained that it was a co-educational institution with students from different communities and that a uniform dress code applied equally to all students. It contended that allowing an exemption to one student could affect the uniformity and discipline of the institution.
The High Court observed that the choice of a school uniform primarily lies within the domain of the educational institution so long as the dress code is “uniform, bona fide, non-discriminatory and intended to maintain discipline and institutional identity”.
The Bench said that the mere fact that the student had been allowed to wear a headscarf in previous classes did not create a “vested or enforceable right” to compel the school to relax or alter its uniform policy for Class XI. The court noted that the earlier practice could have resulted from non-enforcement or inaction and could not operate as an estoppel against the school.
Emphasising the purpose of school uniforms, the court said that they promote discipline, equality among students and institutional identity while reducing visible distinctions within the classroom. A uniform rule applicable to students of different faiths, it added, promotes a religion-neutral educational environment.
The court also examined earlier decisions of the Kerala, Bombay and Karnataka High Courts on similar disputes concerning headscarves and educational dress codes. It noted that the Supreme Court’s judgment in the Karnataka hijab case had resulted in a split verdict and that there was no final authoritative pronouncement by the Supreme Court settling the issue.
Significantly, the Bench held that the petitioner had not placed sufficient material on record to establish that wearing a headscarf inside the classroom was an essential religious practice protected under Article 25 of the Constitution. The court said that a mere assertion, without the necessary factual or legal foundation, was insufficient to sustain such a claim.
The court further observed that although the school was a private unaided institution affiliated with the CBSE, it was performing a public function in the field of education. However, the school’s insistence on adherence to its uniform did not amount to curtailing the student’s freedom of faith, the Bench said.
“Individual students” could not be permitted to depart from the prescribed uniform on subjective grounds, the court reasoned, as that would undermine the very concept of a uniform and transfer the authority to determine school discipline from the institution to individual students.
Finding no merit in the plea, the court dismissed the writ petition and made no order as to costs.
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