The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would hear next week a batch of petitions challenging the Karnataka High Court order upholding the ban on the hijab and other religious attires in educational institutions.

An apex court bench of Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli gave the assurance to advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for some of the petitioners who have assailed the high court order.

Bhushan had sought urgent listing of the petitions, which were filed in March but are yet to come up for hearing. He submitted that many of the girls are losing out on their studies due to the ban imposed by the state government.

CJI Ramana replied: “…It will be listed next week.”

The petitions have challenged the March 15 judgment of Karnataka High Court that ruled that wearing the hijab was not an essential religious practice in Islam and that preventing its use was not a reasonable restriction on the freedom of speech and expression.

One of the petitioners before the Supreme Court has assailed the judgment on the ground “that the… high court has erred in creating a dichotomy of freedom of religion and freedom of conscience wherein the court has inferred that those who follow a religion cannot have the right to conscience”.