Former Supreme Court judge Justice Hemant Gupta, who upheld the Karnataka High Court's verdict in the Hijab ban case, was among the several retired judges who participated in a "Judges Meet" event organised by the legal cell of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in New Delhi. The event, held on Sunday, September 8, saw the participation of at least 30 retired judges from the Supreme Court and various High Courts.
According to reports, the discussions at the meeting centered around issues raised by Hindutva groups, including the status of the Varanasi and Mathura temples, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and concerns over religious conversions.
Defending his actions, Justice Gupta told The Quint, that he attended the event as a “citizen of India” to engage in discussions on “current events and affairs.” In response to reports about his participation, Justice Gupta stressed his right, as a retired judge and citizen, to join forums that discuss contemporary issues. "I cannot comment about others but I have the liberty to associate with platforms and forums to discuss and deliberate upon current issues and topics as any other citizen of the country," he said.
Prior to his tenure at the Supreme Court, Justice Gupta also served as a former Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and judge of the Patna High Court and Punjab and Haryana High Court. Two months after his retirement, he was appointed as the Chairperson of the New Delhi International Arbitration Centre (NDIAC) by the central government.
In his final judgment before retiring as a Supreme Court judge, he upheld the Karnataka High Court's verdict in the controversial Hijab ban case. The case originated from a 2021 government order in Karnataka banning Muslim students from wearing the hijab in educational institutions. The ban was challenged in the Karnataka High Court, which ruled that wearing the hijab was not an “essential religious practice” protected under Article 25 of the Indian Constitution. The ruling was later contested in the Supreme Court, where a two-judge bench, comprising Justice Gupta and Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, delivered a split verdict. While Justice Gupta upheld the High Court's decision, Justice Dhulia dissented, finding fault with the ruling. The case was subsequently referred to a larger bench.
Justice Gupta has also been part of several other significant rulings, which were often controversial. In August 2022, he was part of a split verdict on a case challenging the Karnataka High Court's decision to allow the use of Eidgah Maidan in Bengaluru for Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations. The matter was later referred to a three-judge bench, which stayed the High Court's decision.
In June 2020, Justice Gupta, along with Justices LN Rao and A Rastogi, delivered a unanimous ruling stating that verbal caste-based abuses made in private, rather than in public view, are not punishable. The case arose from a land dispute in Uttarakhand where caste-based slurs were allegedly used in a private setting.
In 2019, Justice Gupta was part of the constitutional bench that struck down the Maratha Reservations, declaring them unconstitutional for exceeding the 50% limit on reservations.