A panel of the Indian Supreme Court failed to rule on a ban on hijabs in schools on Thursday, referring the matter to the chief justice after a split decision and keeping a state’s controversial ruling against women’s scarfs in place.
In February, Muslim students and their parents demonstrated in response to the state of Karnataka’s ban on the garment in schools.

Hindu students responded with counterprotests, bringing up yet another contentious issue at a time when Muslims have complained of being marginalized under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government.
India’s debate on the hijab comes as Iran has been rocked by protests over women’s concerns about Islamic dress codes.
One of the two judges on the panel, Supreme Court Justice Hemant Gupta, stated, “We have a divergence of opinion.”
While Sudhanshu Dhulia, Gupta’s panel colleague, stated that wearing the hijab was a “matter of choice,” Gupta stated that he had desired the dismissal of an appeal against the ban.
They stated that a larger bench would be established by the chief justice to further consider the case, but they did not specify when that would occur.Decisions made by the Supreme Court apply nationwide.
The split verdict was a “semi-victory” for one of the Muslim petitioners who appealed the Karnataka ban, according to Anas Tanwir, a lawyer for them.