Wearing Hijab not essential religious practices: Karnataka HC pronounces judgement in Hijab hearing
Bengaluru(PTI): The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday dismissed petitions filed by a section of Muslim students from the Government Pre-University Girls College in Udupi, seeking permission to wear Hijab inside the classroom.
The prescription of school uniform is only a reasonable restriction, constitutionally permissible which the students cannot object to, a three-judge bench of the court further noted.
"We are of the considered opinion that wearing of Hijab by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practice in Islamic faith," Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi who headed the full bench of the High Court said reading out portion of the order.
The other two judges in the panel were Justice Krishna S Dixit and Justice J M Khazi.
The bench also maintained that the government has power to issue impugned government order dated February 5, 2022 and no case is made out for its invalidation. By the said order, the state government had banned wearing clothes which disturb equality, integrity and public order in schools and colleges.
The court also rejected the plea to initiate a disciplinary inquiry against the college, its principal and a teacher.
"In the above circumstances, all these writ petitions being devoid of merits are liable to be and accordingly are dismissed. In view of the dismissal of the writ petition, all the pending applications fell into insignificance and are accordingly disposed off," the bench said in its order.
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ED attaches fresh assets worth over Rs 1,500 crore in Sahara case
New Delhi, Apr 23 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday said it has attached fresh assets worth more than Rs 1,500 crore as part of a money-laundering investigation against the Sahara Group.
A provisional order was issued by the federal probe agency under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) to attach a total of 1,023 acres of land of Sahara Prime City Limited in 16 cities.
The total value of these plots is Rs 1,538 crore (according to the 2016 circle rate). These pieces of land were purchased through "benami" transactions, with the funds "diverted" from Sahara entities, the agency said in a statement.
These pieces of land are located in Gujarat, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh, the statement said.
Last week, the ED attached 707 acres of land in Amby Valley, located in Maharashtra's Lonavala, worth Rs 1,460 crore (market value).
The money-laundering case stems from more than 500 FIRs filed by various state police departments.
Three FIRs registered against Humara India Credit Cooperative Society Limited (HICCSL) and others by police in Odisha, Bihar and Rajasthan, apart from more than 500 such complaints filed against Sahara Group entities and related persons, have been analysed by the ED.
The agency alleged that the Sahara Group was running a "Ponzi" scheme through various entities, such as HICCSL, Sahara Credit Cooperative Society Limited (SCCSL), Saharayn Universal Multipurpose Cooperative Society (SUMCS), Stars Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited (SMCSL), Sahara India Commercial Corporation Limited (SICCL), Sahara India Real Estate Corporation Limited (SIRECL), Sahara Housing Investment Corporation Limited (SHICL) and other group entities.
"The group has cheated the depositors and agents by alluring them with high returns and commissions respectively, and utilised the funds collected in a non-regulated manner without any information or control of the depositors," the ED said.
