Hijab Controversy: 88 lakhs paid by Karnataka BJP govt to Solicitor, Additional Solicitor General

Representative image | Photo credits: (Left) Special arrangement | (Right) @BSBommai | Twitter

The Karnataka government had paid 88 lakh rupees to the Solicitor General and Additional Solicitor General of India who argued the hijab case in the Supreme Court on behalf of the state government. The remuneration has raised eyebrows as, in the past, the state's education department had stated that it does not have enough funds for the distribution of scholarships, free bicycles, shoes and socks to school students. 

It has been learnt that Tushar Mehta was paid Rs 39.60 lakh, and KM Natraj was paid Rs 48.40 lakh for arguing the hijab matter in the apex court on behalf of the Karnataka government. Mehta had made nine appearances in court, while Nataraj had appeared 11 times to argue the case. Documents exclusively accessed by us reveal that Mehta and Nataraj were offered a daily remuneration of 4,40,000 rupees. 

Documents reveal that Tushar Mehta was paid Rs 39.60 lakh, and KM Natraj was paid Rs 48.40 lakh for arguing the hijab matter in the apex court on behalf of the Karnataka government | Document courtesy: G Mahantesh

The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of appeals that challenged the Karnataka High Court verdict that upheld the ban on wearing hijab in government schools and colleges. On March 15 last year, the Karnataka High Court upheld a Government Order (GO) that empowered the college development committee of government colleges in the state to prohibit girl students from wearing hijab on the campuses. The court had ruled that Hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam. 

The controversy over hijab sparked in Karnataka when six girl students from the Government PU College for Girls in Udupi were not allowed to attend classes wearing hijab. Soon, the protests escalated in other districts in the state and, in no time, became a cause for national outrage.

This story was first published in Kannada by The File. To read the Kannada version of the original story, pls click