The Supreme Court's split verdict in the hijab case means the matter will continue to attract the apex court's attention, the Congress said on Thursday. And the Bharat Jodo Yatra, it added, will keep demanding accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on issues such as economic inequality.
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The Supreme Court delivered a split verdict on the ban on hijabs in Karnataka's educational institutions and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for constituting a larger bench.
"The Supreme Court's split verdict in the hijab case means that the matter will continue to attract the court's attention. Meanwhile, the Bharat Jodo Yatra will continue to demand accountability from Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising economic inequality, social polarisation and political dictatorship," Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said in a tweet in Hindi.
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While Justice Hemant Gupta dismissed the appeals against the March 15 verdict of the Karnataka High Court that had refused to lift the ban and held that the hijab is not part of "essential religious practice" in Islamic faith, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia allowed the pleas and observed that it is ultimately a "matter of choice".
In view of the split verdict, the bench directed that the appeals against the high court verdict be placed before the CJI for constituting an appropriate larger bench.
The Congress' Bharat Jodo Yatri started on September 7 with Rahul Gandhi along with several Congress leaders walking as 'Bharat Yatris' who will complete the 3,570 km journey from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.