
| Font Size |



A bench of Justices R V Raveendran and Markandeya Katju also withdrew the order passed by it on March 30 in which it had dismissed the petition filed by a student challenging the directive of a convent school in Madhya Pradesh that Muslims cannot sport beard.
"During the hearing, certain observations were made by one of us (Justice Markandeya Katju). His intentions were not to offend anyone. However, if any one's feeling has been hurt, he apologises and expresses regret in the matter," the bench said in an order.
The apex court said since the petitioner Mohd Saleem had expressed apprehension that one of the judges (Katju) was biased it was requesting the Chief Justice of India to place the matter before another bench for hearing.
"The review petition expresses apprehension that one of the judges was biased against the petitioner. We are of the view that the matter should be heard by another bench. We therefore, withdraw the order of March 30, 2009," the apex court said while referring the matter to another bench for a fresh hearing.
Nirmala Convent High School, Vidisha, Madhya Pradesh, had removed Mohd Saleem, a 10th class student, after he refused to shave his beard on the ground that it was mandatory in Islam.


Discuss this story on expressindia forums
|
|


When will the SC apologize to the nation for the inordinate delay in millions of cases pending before the courts?
Supreme Court judge Justice Markandeya Katju's courage and forthrighness should be congratulated and his behaviour should be emulated by our senior politicians,professsionals and all Govt. officials. Basically there is much of stubbornness, ego and uncompromising attitude among Indians and we refuse to accept and say sorry for wrongdoings. Our nation will be more peaceful, healthier, more prosperous and happier if we take the judge Murkandeya as one of the role models.
Mr. Khan what are you trying to say? I get a feeling that you are trying to say that we muslims will force anybody to apologise for saying the truth. I do not see any other meaning in your comment. And you are blessed by our great secular government which is dependent on your precious vote strength. Long live India!
We Indians want to know under whose pressure such statement is made?There was no need to apologize,what ever was thought by judge at that time and stated in his judgment is true.Tomorrow if other religious groups will start shouting,will SC judges beeline for apology.This is a problem with Islam its followers can't take judgment,don't believe in constitution and they are adamant to make country Taliban.
it is a shame that the judicial is also threatened by the extremisists. their prev statement was true and shoul have NOT aploligized.
There was no need for Justice Katju to apologise, we know him as someone who is impeccable and an upright person. What he said was right, too much of religion whether minority or majority is going to harm us in the long run. As a muslim I am aware of the fact that beard is not mandatory, it is desirable, and there is a big difference between the two. The young man in question should concentrate on his studies rather than on his beard. I pray sense prevails and personalities like Justice Katju carry on their goodwork
SC was right. How dare they ask SC judge to apologize ?
It is a clear sign about the clout Taliban-Islamist terror groups have on the UPA Govt. The country is going in a direction which may lead to banning of any pro-Hindu or nationalist organizations and free pass and monetary political support for groups having loyalty to Islamic terrorism and evangilacalisation and debasing of India of its culture. Same story repeats and always anti-national forces establish in power structure with the help of likes of Jaychand! 1000 year lesson is not enough! Now those forces are acting under the banner of 'free media' and 'secularism' and 'modernism'... and leftism! Example: Maoists who are funded by ISI/Islamic terrorism and carrying out church's agenda of murdering Hindu social workers! Perfect mixture of Marx-Mullah and church against Hindu nationalism!Nowhere else in the world such deadly mixture exists against a peaceful and pluralistic religion! Three very violent ideologies fighting it together! God save mother India!
A supreme court judge should not speak in a foolish manner. MR Katju not only did the same but also challenged the Muslims identity by saying that growing beard is a synonym with Taliban. Mr KAtju as a jurist must know that beard is a important and basic tenets of Islamic ideology just like Sikhs.Recent times the Supreme court or the judiciary has always been in the news for negative and controversial reasons.Be it gay marriage or any other issue.If gay marriage is justified what would u say why it was not legalized till now.The court should be acting like moral guardian of the society and not like Devil.You can never ape west in social fabrics and customs.These two civilization are wider apart.Justify the judgment in the context of Indian masses and historical background of the country.I wonder why till no religious groups have spoken against this very stupid act.Are they following gay marriage legalization or making society corrupt and polluted much more then what we can visualize.
This shows the transparency of the Indian judicial system. Having a beard should'nt be regarded as a pro taliban attribute.
great news. tomorrow another religion will say that they need to carry a gun to school and lets permit it. if this student cannot obey the rules of the school let him join a madarsha. can we join muslim school and take meat inside or dress inappropriately? will they allow other religion students to do so in muslim school ??school is a place for education and not religion.
It is the tendency of Hindus of western Indian states (MP, Rajsthan
This apology from the bench creates a wrong kind of precedent. Firstly I do not see anything wrong in what the learned Justice said because that phrase is being used throughout the world including Muslim countries. Secondly, Justices must weigh each word and phrase they use in the course of their judicial pronouncements. In respect of the complaint, the Court has no jurisdiction to stop a private educational institution enforcing procedure for student conduct and discipline. One seeks entry in such institutions based on expectations and one must be willing to forgo certain personal needs. Religion is a private matter for the individual. One cannot enforce religious belief upon every institution or person ones comes into contact with. The practice followed by Sikh community may be sited for example, but if shaving head and growing beard are mandatory according to Muslim tenets, why do we see only a very small minority of Muslims around the world following that mandate?
HE HAVE TOO.