Azeem Suterwalla and Caoilfhionn Gallagher brace the issue of “Kara” discrimination in schools
The case of R (Sarika Angel Watkins- TSingh, a child acting by Sanita Kumari Singh, her Mother and Litigation TTFriend) v Th e Governing Body of Aberdare Girls’ High School and Rhondda Cynon Taf Unitary Authority (Interested Party) [2008] EWHC 1865 (Admin) concerned a claim by a Sikh-Welsh teenager that her school had acted unlawfully in not permitting her to wear a “Kara” bracelet on her wrist. The school excluded her for breaking its “no jewellery” rule.
Unlawful actions
Mr Justice Silber found that the school had acted unlawfully in not allowing the claimant to wear the Kara, primarily on the ground that it had breached the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA 1976) and the Equality Act 2006 (EA 2006) and was guilty of indirect discrimination.
Background
The claimant was a Sikh girl of Punjabi- Welsh heritage. The school was a maintained girls’ non-denominational school in Wales. The interested party was the local authority which maintained the school but did not play any part in the proceedings.
In April 2007, a teacher at the
