HC suspends validity of DU notice to keep female students’ faces uncovered

Staff Reporter :
The High Court Tuesday stayed for six months the decision of Dhaka University’s Bangla department asking its female students to keep their faces, including their ears, uncovered during examinations and presentations.
The court also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned to explain in four weeks as to why the department’s decision should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed by three students of the department challenging the legality of the decision.
On February 19 this year, three female students at Dhaka University filed the writ petition challenging the legality of the university’s Bangla department decision about uncovering their faces and ears while sitting an exam and presentations.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Faizullah Faiz submitted the petition on behalf of the three students saying the decision is contradictory to their religious belief and independence and therefore liable to be declared illegal.
Faiz said that the Bangla department on December 11 last year issued a notice asking the students to keep their faces, including their ears, uncovered during all examinations and presentations.The female students who wear hijabs have been affected by the notice, he added.