New Delhi

France's highest administrative court has upheld a nationwide ban on the wearing of ‘burkini’ a full body swimsuit worn by Muslim women for religious and cultural reasons in public pools.

The local administration of Grenoble city in Alps in the southeastern part of France had challenged the ban on Burkini after the Municipal authorities relaxed its rules on the swimwear permitted in public pools.

The Mayor of Grenoble had argued that “people should have the freedom wear what they want to.”

However, according to Euro News, the French Conseil d’Etat (The Highest Court in France) said “allowing the burkini would undermine the principle of neutrality of public services."

Those opposed to the freedom to wear Burkini said the policy violated France's core secular value that religion cannot be used to inform decisions or policies.

Judges at the Conseil d’Etat ruled in favour of the Isere prefecture and confirmed that the new swimwear regulations in Grenoble had only aimed "to satisfy a religious demand."

“It (allowing burkini) is likely to affect the proper functioning of the public service and the equal treatment of users," the court said.

French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the ruling was "a victory for the law of separatism, for secularism and beyond, for the whole Republic.

A local court in Grenoble had earlier ruled in favour of the burkini ban, stating that people should be able to "free themselves from this rule for religious purposes".

Since 2016, several local French authorities have attempted to outlaw the wearing of the burkini in public places.

In 2019, authorities in the northwestern city of Rennes quietly updated its pool hygiene policies to allow burkinis and other types of swimwear.