A lawyer claimed threat to life of Karnataka Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi
A police case has been filed against unknown people for allegedly threatening the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice over the recent court order on hijab ban in the southern state. The state government said it will give "Y category" security to all the three judges who gave the verdict on the hijab matter.
In a First Information Report, lawyer Umapathi S alleged he received a video message on WhatsApp that gave an "open threat of murder" to Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi.
The hijab is not an essential religious practice, the Karnataka High Court had said as it backed a ban on hijabs in classrooms on Tuesday, weeks after violent protests in many parts of the state against the restriction.
"I was shocked to see the video and its content. That's why I immediately approached the (high court) Registrar," the lawyer told NDTV.
In a letter to Registrar, the lawyer said, "I received WhatsApp video message around 9:45 am from my contacts. The said video message is in Tamil language and after listening the same I was shocked to know the open threat of murder and target Hon'ble Chief Justice of Karnataka High Court and others in the wake of recent judgment of Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka banning of hijab."
The lawyer alleged the video "seems to have originated from Tamil Nadu (probably Madurai district) in an open public meeting, where the speaker refers to the murder of Hon'ble Judge while walking in Jharkhand state." An autorickshaw had intentionally ran over and killed a judge in Jharkhand in July last year, which was seen on CCTV. The case was taken up by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
"The speaker makes a similar threat to Hon'ble Chief Justice of Karnataka by stating people know where the Chief Justice goes for walking," the lawyer alleged.
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said the state government will give "Y category security" to the three judges who gave the verdict in the hijab matter. "We have decided to give Y category security to all the three judges who gave the hijab verdict. I have instructed the police chief to probe the complaint," Mr Bommai said in Bengaluru.
The Karnataka High Court's order on the hijab ban has been challenged in the Supreme Court by Niba Naaz, a student who was not among the five who had originally petitioned against the hijab ban.
Schools had reasonable grounds to impose dress codes that forbade the hijab in the interests of preventing divisions on religion and other grounds, the judgment said. "The aim of the regulation is to create a 'safe space'... and the ideals of egalitarianism should be readily apparent to all students," it said.