A two-judge bench in the Supreme Court is hearing an important case against a decision by the Karnataka High Court. This case is related to a ‘scarf ban’ (in general terms hijab ban) worn on the head by Muslim girls along with school uniform. The matter is being heard by a bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
So the lawyers who have filed separate petitions are presenting their arguments. When Devdutt Kamat, one of these lawyers, described hijab as a part of ‘freedom of expression’, Justice Gupta, who was included in the bench, asked, “If someone wants to wear salwar kameez or boys want to wear dhoti, is it allowed too? go?”
Devdutt Kamat while placing the question of fundamental right before the court said, “Article 19(1) of the Constitution gives the right to freedom of expression. This right also ensures what to wear.”
On this, Justice Gupta asked Kamat, “We cannot take this to illogical ends.. if you say Right to Dress is a fundamental right then right to undress also becomes a fundamental right!” Adv. Kamath then argues, “I am not here to make cliche arguments milord. I am proving a point. No one is undressing milord in school.”
This remark made by justice Gupta has caught everyone’s eyes and he is being heavily criticised on social media.
A user tweeted, “Such perverse reductionism from a Supreme Court judge !!! Such comments give us little confidence about the outcome. He’s not fit to be a judge if he doesn’t display the bare minimum decency & sensitivity his profession demands!”
Another user tweeted, “Gupta is a Supreme Court judge.” One tweeted, “Twitter trolls with no dp and 0 followers have better arguments.” While the tweeted, “What an obscene thing to say. Is he intentionally adding to the right wing discourse which obsesses about undressing Muslim women. I want to puke.”
Checkout the tweets: