Bengaluru, Feb 22 (PTI) Common uniform was introduced to remove discrimination on the lines of religion and wealth, the counsel for the College Development Committee (CDC) told the Karnataka High Court on Wednesday.

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"In order to remove discrimination, we introduced common uniform for everyone whether they are rich or poor, Hindu, Muslim or another religion," Sajan Poovayya told the full bench of the High Court.

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The bench comprising Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice J M Khazi and Justice Krishna S Dixit was hearing the hijab case.

Poovayya contended that uniform is imposed in school to ensure that its appearance is secular. According to him, "education coming from the state in the form of public instruction is a secular activity where religion will have no play".

The senior lawyer also argued that one cannot insist on wearing religious attire even if it was an essential religious practice if he or she is getting public instruction from the state.

Citing the Karnataka Education Act 1983, he said the charter mandates promoting 'secular outlook' in schools. "Uniform should not have religious markers. In fact, it should also be gender neutral," the senior counsel contended.

Further, he said the interference of religion in 'secular education' should be kept minimum.

Underlining the seriousness of the petition seeking permission to wear hijab in the classrooms, Poovayya said if there are 100 Muslims in a school and five insist on wearing the headscarf, then, should it mean that the remaining 95 were irreligious.

Speaking about the CDC, he said the MLAs head the committee irrespective of their political affiliation and they do not take up the role as a member of a political party.

Earlier, the High Court said the uniform prescribed by the schools and colleges should be followed till the disposal of the case.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)