SC rules in favor of Christian school over student's beard

The Supreme Court on Monday rejected the plea of a Muslim student who questioned his Christian school's rules against keeping beards.

Mohammed Salim, a class 10 student of Madhya Pradesh, petitioned that he should be allowed to sport a beard to conform with his religious beliefs.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Markandeya Katju, said: "I am secularist. We should strike a balance between rights and personal beliefs. We cannot overstretch secularism."

''We don't want to have Taliban in the country. Tomorrow a girl student may come and say that she wants to wear a burqa, can we allow it," he questioned.

Salim is a student of Nirmala Convent Higher Secondary School, a government-recognised Christian institution.

In his petition, he maintained that every citizen is free to follow his religious policies and that no one should stop him from doing so in a secular country like India.

His counsel, Mr. B.A. Khan, a Muslim, defended the petitioner stating that sporting a beard is essential to a Muslim and it is according to the Islam. To this, the judge wittily responded, "But you (Justice Khan) don't sport a beard."

The court contended that a minority institution has its own rules and rights, according to the provision by Article 30 of the Constitution. If the student was not interested in following the rules he can change to other institutions, Justice Katju said, adding "You can't ask the school to change the rules for you."

School manager Father Abhilash Illimoottil, meanwhile, said he was was happy that the verdict supported the secular credentials of the Indian Constitution.

The school, he said, does not discriminate against any religion and has rules and disciplines that must be followed by every student.