HC calls for report from govt on role of radical outfits in hijab row

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Friday said it has called for a report from the state government on the role of radical organisations behind the Hijab controversy in the state.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Ghanshyam Upadhyay who sought an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into the row that started from the coastal district headquarters town of Udupi and spread to different parts of Karnataka last month.

“We have already called for a report from the government and we will consider your submission,” Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi told senior advocate Subhash Jha from Mumbai, who represented Upadhyay.

The full bench of the High Court comprising CJ Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit has been hearing the case on a day-to-day basis since February 10.

Presenting his argument before the bench, Jha said the agitation pushing for wearing of Hijabs in class-rooms was the handiwork of radical organisations, which are funded by some foreign nations.

“An agitation of this magnitude cannot be created overnight and therefore if this agitation is engineered and this is obviously engineered, funded by some organisation, this cannot start out of the blue. This is the sinister design,” Jha told the bench.

The Chief Justice sought to know whether he has presented any material to show that there is some organisation and people behind this agitation. To this, Jha said when the court was hearing the batch of petitions, Harsha, a Bajrang Dal activist, was killed in Shivamogga and a radical organisation’s name has surfaced.

In reply, CJ Awasthi said it was not proper to draw any conclusion when the investigation was pending and the police were doing their work. “Unless police comes out with something related to this case saying that it was this organisation which is linked to the killing of that person, we cannot draw presumptions,” the Chief Justice said.

The counsel said receipt of information and not the credible information is sufficient to start an investigation. “All these abundant circumstances sufficiently indicate that there is something much more than what meets the naked eyes,” the lawyer argued. Asking Jha to refrain from drawing presumption, the Chief Justice said the authorities have been taking appropriate action wherever there is a problem.

“We cannot draw presumption that the case requires to be handed over to the CBI or NIA for investigation,” Justice Awasthi said.

Jha urged the court to consider calling upon the Union Home Ministry, which is a party. “Let there be a report by the Home Ministry to tell the court that there is some sinister design like this,” Jha contended. Highlighting that the such petitions are being filed at a regular intervals in various courts, he wondered how many hours of judicial time were spent on these issues.

In his rejoinder argument, senior counsel Professor Ravi Varma Kumar, representing the petitioner Muslim girls arguing against the government’s hijab ban, said the College Development Committee headed by the MLAs of the government colleges in their respective constituencies and their nominee members cannot be vested with administrative powers.

Citing a case, he said out of 12 members in the CDC, 11 are the nominees of the MLAs. “An absolute power has been given to the MLAs. The college has been handed over to the MLA on the platter,” Kumar contended. “There is no accountability of the MLA who sits like a monarch in the college. Supposing there is financial irregularity and the committee is found involved in it, who will investigate them,” Kumar asked. -PTI