Canada's top court ruled Thursday that a Montreal school went too far when it banned a Sikh boy from wearing his ceremonial dagger to school.

In a unanimous 8-0 judgment, the Supreme Court of Canada overturned a Quebec Court of Appeals decision that had barred teenager Gurbaj Singh Multani from wearing the dagger, known as a kirpan, to class.

"Religious tolerance is a very important value of Canadian society," Justice Louise Charron wrote in the decision, adding that a total ban infringed the guarantee of religious freedom under the Charter of Rights and was "disrespectful to believers in the Sikh religion."

Orthodox Sikhs, who make up about 10 per cent of the estimated 250,000 Sikhs in Canada, are required by their religion to wear the kirpan at all times.

Charron said the boy had no history of violence, and rejected the idea that kirpans are inherently dangerous.

She also noted that schools had other objects which could also be used for violence, such as scissors and baseball bats.

However, the court did leave room for some restrictions to be imposed on the carrying of kirpans in the name of public safety.

Gurbaj Singh, now 17 and in his last year of high school, told reporters that the five-year battle had been worth it.

"I feel very good that we won our rights. Everybody should stand for their rights," he said, surrounded by numerous Sikh supporters outside the court.

Palbinder Shergill, counsel for the Canadian branch of the World Sikh Organization, told reporters that she hoped the decision "will put that matter to rest once and for all."

The final ruling in the long-running case -- which pitted religious freedom against school safety -- is likely to resonate across the country and could give some direction to provincial governments on how far they must go to accommodate religious beliefs.

Dispute

Gurbaj Singh's case goes back to 2001, when, at the age of 12, he accidentally dropped his kirpan in the schoolyard of Ste-Catherine-Laboure school in LaSalle, Que.

The school's principal ordered him to remove the kirpan, but the young boy decided to leave the school rather than remove the 10-centimetre dagger.

Gurbaj Singh's family then took the case to court, and in May 2002, the Quebec Superior Court ruled the boy could wear his kirpan to school, but only if it was wrapped in a cloth and hidden inside a wooden case underneath clothing.

However in 2004, the Quebec Court of Appeal struck down the decision completely, instead ruling that community safety was more important.

In the court's view, the kirpan violated a student conduct code that prohibited the carrying of "weapons and dangerous objects."

At a Supreme Court hearing in April 2005, Julius Grey, lawyer for the family, noted that schools in other Canadian provinces have permitted the wearing of kirpans and there had never been a case where one has been used to stab a student.

That adds up to "overwhelming empirical evidence that the kirpan is not a dangerous weapon," said Grey.

However, Francois Aquin, lawyer for the Montreal school board, retorted that there had never been any school assaults with kitchen knives either. "That doesn't mean we will allow students to carry kitchen knives in school," she told the hearing.

Mixed reaction

While Sikhs commended the court for showing great respect for religious freedom, the ruling was met with mixed reaction.

"It's very reassuring as a Canadian knowing that the fundamental rights that Canadians enjoy are recognized," said Allan Adel, of B'Nai Brith Canada.

Meanwhile, Quebec Federation of Parents' Committees Vice-president for English affairs Craig Buchanan expressed his concern, saying the ruling was a "slippery slope."

"We're introducing a very small insignificant weapon, but where is it going to lead to?" he asked.

But a representative for the family says there is no reason for concern.

"There's never been a violent incident a kirpan," said Santbir Singh. "Sikhs have been in Canada for over a hundred years and there's never been an incident. So this issue is much more about fear and misconception than it is about reality."

Compromise

Other provinces, including schools in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, have solved the issue with a compromise.

They permit the wearing of kirpans with certain restrictions -- such as a limit on size or a requirement that they be worn hidden under clothing.

Sikh MPs are allowed to wear kirpans in the House of Commons, but trial judges in some provinces have banned them from courtrooms.

Most airlines once routinely allowed passengers to wear kirpans with blades no longer than 10 centimetres.

However, after the 9/11 terror attacks on the U.S., Transport Canada imposed a total ban on all "knives or knife-like objects," which included religious ones.

Thursday's Supreme Court of Canada ruling focused specifically on wearing kirpans in schools.

With a report from CTV Montreal's Caroline Van Vlaardingen