A writ petition was filed on Friday in the Kerala High Court challenging the dress code prescribed for candidates appearing for the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Test-2015 scheduled on July 25.
The petition was filed by Nidha Raheem of Palakkad. According to her, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had stipulated a dress code of “half sleeves shirt/T-shirt/kurta with trousers/salwars and open slippers. The dress code was mentioned in the provisional admit card issued to the petitioner.
According to her, she was following the religion of Islam ardently.
The insistence on the dress code was directly in conflict with the Quranic injunctions.
The Quran enjoined women to follow a strict dress code.
Wearing Khumur (veil covering the head) and Jilbab (loose outer garment) was the dress code prescribed by the Quran and Sunnah.
The petitioner contended that she had the fundamental right to freely profess and practice a religion of her choice. The insistence on a dress code by the CBSE violated the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution. Therefore, the action of the CBSE was illegal and also violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
‘Illegal stipulation’
She said in her petition that she might not be permitted to write the exam if she wears the dress prescribed by the Quran. She sought to declare the CBSE’s dress code stipulation as illegal.
