Girl not allowed to attend medical college for wearing a Hijab

A first year student of a Medical College in Mumbai has moved to the Court alleging that her college had prevented her from wearing a Hijab (headscarf) in the college premises. The college had initially restrained her from attending lectures, but subsequently did not allow her to sit for her exams citing the same reason. She could not appear for the repeater exams either because of not being able to fulfill the attendance mandate, for which she blames the college, which had restricted her presence in the college. In her initial complaint, her father had written to ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) and MUHS (Maharashtra University of Health Sciences) who had simply directed the college to resolve the matter. The college in its decision had stated that they had to follow a uniform dress code and therefore, the request could not be accepted. In pursuance of the same, the girl wrote to the State Human Rights Commission and subsequently the High Court. The High Court in its Order required the college to allow her to appear for the repeater exams as by the time she approached the High Court she had already missed the main exams, and follow procedure as per MUHS Rules. However, MUHS in its statement has declined permission to the girl to sit for the repeater exams as she has failed to meet the attendance criteria, as she had attendance for only 6 days. The girl in her contention stated that her sister, who is pursuing similar course from another college affiliated to MUHS is allowed to wear a Hijab. Her advocate, Sariputta Sarnath, informed a vacation bench of Justices Ajay Gadkari and Shahrukh Kathawalla that the girl did not insist on wearing a burqa, but along with the headscarf would wear a gown, over which she would wear an apron if necessary. The legal trend reiterated by various High Courts has been to allow women to choose dress based on religious preferences as a Fundamental Right enshrined under Article 25 of the Constitution. The Kerala High Court also in 2016 allowed girls to wear hijab during AIPMT examinations.