The Evening Wrap: Karnataka High Court refers hijab petitions to larger Bench

Indicating that it will pass an interim order, the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday adjourned to February 14 further hearing on the petitions questioning the ban on wearing hijab (headscarf) by Muslim girl students on college premises. A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M. Khazi indicated that it will pass an interim order to be abided by all the students and stakeholders till the court decides the issue on whether wearing of hijab is an essential religious practice, and whether it is covered under the right of freedom to religion guaranteed in the Constitution. “We are ready to decide the issue at the earliest. But we feel that peace and tranquility should be restored. Till decision, you should not insist for wearing these religious clothes which are not conducive,” the Chief Justice said. “This will amount to suspension of our rights. That will be a total affront to their rights. We are told to choose between food and water and both are essential,” objected senior advocate Devadatt Kamat. But the Chief Justice responded, “It is a matter of few days. Please cooperate,” adding, “We will restrain everyone from adopting religious practices while we are hearing.” Following the High Court's directions, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to resume classes for high school students up to class 10 from February 14, and for Pre-University and Degree Colleges thereafter. The decision was arrived at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with Ministers of Home, Primary and Secondary Education, Higher Education Departments, and senior officials. “The three-judge bench has said that they will hear the case on a day-to-day basis and that everyone should maintain peace, and not to wear religious dress at colleges until then (order). They have also given instruction for reopening of educational institutions,” Bommai said. “It has been decided that high school classes up to class 10 will start functioning from Monday and in the second stage PUC and degree colleges will start, the dates will be announced in the due course,” he said. Over 60% turnout recorded in phase 1 of U.P. polls Over 60% voter turnout was recorded in the first phase of polling held on Thursday across 58 Assembly constituencies in 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Polling closed at 6 p.m. following a one-hour extension because of COVID-19 protocols. The day passed off peacefully with minor technical snags in EVMs at some places, election officials said. Additional Chief Election Officer (ACEO) B.D. Ram Tiwari said, "There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places." Those EVMs were being replaced as the reports came in, he added. On the Samajwadi Party's allegation that poor voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise in Dundukheda village in the Kairana Assembly constituency, Mr. Tiwari said the district magistrate concerned was asked to look into the matter. Agra recorded 60.33% polling, Aligarh 60.49%, Baghpat 61.35%, Bulandshahr 60.52%, Gautam Buddh Nagar 56.73%, Ghaziabad 54.77%, Hapur 60.50%, Mathura 63.28%, Meerut 60.91%, Muzaffarnagar 65.34% and Shamli 69.42%, an EC report said. During the 2017 assembly elections, 63.47% polling was recorded in these constituencies, the report said. Lakhimpur Kheri case: Allahabad HC grants bail to Ashish Mishra The Allahabad High Court has granted bail to Ashish Mishra alias Monu, son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which four farmers were killed after a convoy of cars associated with them ran over protesting farmers in October 2021. While granting bail to Ashish Mishra, Justice Rajeev Singh said that during the course of the investigation, no firearm injuries were found either on the body of any of the deceased or on the body of any injured person. According to the first information report (FIR) lodged in the case, Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars and was also accused of shooting dead one of the farmers. However, the postmortem report did not show any bullet injury. The court said it could not “shut its eyes” to the killing of the three persons, including the driver, sitting in the vehicle, who were killed by the protesters. “The photograph available in the case diary clearly reveals the brutality of the protesters, those [who] were beating the said three persons, namely, Hariom Mishra, Shubham Mishra and Shyam Sunder,” the judge said. The court also noted that there was “serious lackness of the District Administration, as some persons, for their political benefits, call innocent persons, without due permission under law”. “In the present case, though the order under Section 144 Cr.P.C. was operating, thousands of persons from different districts, even from other States gathered at one place, which was very well within the knowledge of the District Administration, as is evident from the statement of its officials, but neither any preventive action was taken nor any action against the organisers had been taken,” the court said. Justice Singh directed the Chief Secretary of U.P. to issue necessary directions and guidelines for regulating such assemblies and processions in order to avoid inconvenience caused to citizens by them. Congress MP asks whether the EC will issue notice to PM for his interview before U.P. polls Will the Election Commission of India (ECI) issue a notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving an interview a day before polling in Uttar Pradesh, since it had issued one to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi before the Gujarat polls, Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Manickam Tagore asked on Thursday. In a tweet, the Congress MP asked why the ECI was “silent” now, after the Prime Minister gave the news agency Asia News International an extensive interview on Wednesday, a day before the first phase of the seven-phase polls in U.P. “Why @ECISVEEP silent now? EC issued showcause notice to @RahulGandhi ji for giving an interview a day before polling in Gujarat. That was violation of model code. Modi sahib gave interview a day before polling in UP. Will ECI give notice to him? Or Why double standards?” Tagore tweeted. The show cause notice to Gandhi that the Congress MP talks about refers to the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls. On December 13, 2017, the EC had asked channels to stop airing Gandhi’s interviews as they referred to issues related to the then Gujarat polls. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 4,24,79,509 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,06,579. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 10 FEBRUARY 2022 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Hijab issue | Karnataka High Court to pass interim order; no ‘religious dress’ can be worn by students until then Indicating that it will pass an interim order, the High Court of Karnataka on Thursday adjourned to February 14 further hearing on the petitions questioning the ban on wearing hijab (headscarf) by Muslim girl students on college premises. A three-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Krishna S. Dixit and Justice Jaibunnisa M. Khazi [indicated that it will pass an interim order to be abided by all the students and stakeholders]( till the court decides the issue on whether wearing of hijab is an essential religious practice, and whether it is covered under the right of freedom to religion guaranteed in the Constitution. “We are ready to decide the issue at the earliest. But we feel that peace and tranquility should be restored. Till decision, you should not insist for wearing these religious clothes which are not conducive,” the Chief Justice said. “This will amount to suspension of our rights. That will be a total affront to their rights. We are told to choose between food and water and both are essential,” objected senior advocate Devadatt Kamat. But the Chief Justice responded, “It is a matter of few days. Please cooperate,” adding, “We will restrain everyone from adopting religious practices while we are hearing.” Following the High Court's directions, the Karnataka government on Thursday decided to resume classes for high school students up to class 10 from February 14, and for Pre-University and Degree Colleges thereafter. The decision was arrived at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai with Ministers of Home, Primary and Secondary Education, Higher Education Departments, and senior officials. “The three-judge bench has said that they will hear the case on a day-to-day basis and that everyone should maintain peace, and not to wear religious dress at colleges until then (order). They have also given instruction for reopening of educational institutions,” Bommai said. “It has been decided that high school classes up to class 10 will start functioning from Monday and in the second stage PUC and degree colleges will start, the dates will be announced in the due course,” he said. [underlineimg] Over 60% turnout recorded in phase 1 of U.P. polls [Over 60% voter turnout was recorded in the first phase]( of polling held on Thursday across 58 Assembly constituencies in 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh. Polling closed at 6 p.m. following a one-hour extension because of COVID-19 protocols. The day passed off peacefully with minor technical snags in EVMs at some places, election officials said. Additional Chief Election Officer (ACEO) B.D. Ram Tiwari said, "There were reports of a technical error in EVMs at some places." Those EVMs were being replaced as the reports came in, he added. [People wait to cast their votes at a polling station, during the first phase of U.P. Assembly elections, at Baparasi village in Meerut on February 10, 2022.]  On the Samajwadi Party's allegation that poor voters were not allowed to exercise their franchise in Dundukheda village in the Kairana Assembly constituency, Mr. Tiwari said the district magistrate concerned was asked to look into the matter. Agra recorded 60.33% polling, Aligarh 60.49%, Baghpat 61.35%, Bulandshahr 60.52%, Gautam Buddh Nagar 56.73%, Ghaziabad 54.77%, Hapur 60.50%, Mathura 63.28%, Meerut 60.91%, Muzaffarnagar 65.34% and Shamli 69.42%, an EC report said. During the 2017 assembly elections, 63.47% polling was recorded in these constituencies, the report said. [underlineimg] Lakhimpur Kheri case: Allahabad HC grants bail to Ashish Mishra The Allahabad High Court has [granted bail to Ashish Mishra alias Monu, son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra]( in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which four farmers were killed after a convoy of cars associated with them ran over protesting farmers in October 2021. While granting bail to Ashish Mishra, Justice Rajeev Singh said that during the course of the investigation, no firearm injuries were found either on the body of any of the deceased or on the body of any injured person. According to the first information report (FIR) lodged in the case, Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars and was also accused of shooting dead one of the farmers. However, the postmortem report did not show any bullet injury. [Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra is escorted out of the crime branch. File]  The court said it could not “shut its eyes” to the killing of the three persons, including the driver, sitting in the vehicle, who were killed by the protesters. “The photograph available in the case diary clearly reveals the brutality of the protesters, those [who] were beating the said three persons, namely, Hariom Mishra, Shubham Mishra and Shyam Sunder,” the judge said. The court also noted that there was “serious lackness of the District Administration, as some persons, for their political benefits, call innocent persons, without due permission under law”. “In the present case, though the order under Section 144 Cr.P.C. was operating, thousands of persons from different districts, even from other States gathered at one place, which was very well within the knowledge of the District Administration, as is evident from the statement of its officials, but neither any preventive action was taken nor any action against the organisers had been taken,” the court said. Justice Singh directed the Chief Secretary of U.P. to issue necessary directions and guidelines for regulating such assemblies and processions in order to avoid inconvenience caused to citizens by them. [underlineimg] Congress MP asks whether the EC will issue notice to PM for his interview before U.P. polls Will the Election Commission of India (ECI) issue a notice to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for giving an interview a day before polling in Uttar Pradesh, since it had issued one to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi before the Gujarat polls, [Lok Sabha member and Congress leader Manickam Tagore asked]( on Thursday. In a tweet, the Congress MP asked why the ECI was “silent” now, after the Prime Minister gave the news agency Asia News International an extensive interview on Wednesday, a day before the first phase of the seven-phase polls in U.P. “Why @ECISVEEP silent now? EC issued showcause notice to @RahulGandhi ji for giving an interview a day before polling in Gujarat. That was violation of model code. Modi sahib gave interview a day before polling in UP. Will ECI give notice to him? Or Why double standards?” Tagore tweeted. The show cause notice to Gandhi that the Congress MP talks about refers to the 2017 Gujarat Assembly polls. On December 13, 2017, the EC had asked channels to stop airing Gandhi’s interviews as they referred to issues related to the then Gujarat polls. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 4,24,79,509 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 5,06,579. 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