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MONTREAL — Quebec’s chief justice declared herself a feminist in court last week and then suggested opposition to the province’s secularism law resulted from “visual allergies” to seeing women in a hijab.

Now Nicole Duval Hesler is facing accusations of bias as well as calls to withdraw from hearing a legal challenge to Bill 21. The Canadian Judicial Council said Monday it has received correspondence from about 30 people expressing concern that she is presiding over the appeal.

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The chief justice’s actions have also drawn divided reactions from academics, with some defending her and others saying she went too far.

History teacher Frederic Bastien of Montreal’s Dawson College announced Sunday he had filed an official complaint with the judicial council and called on Duval Hesler to withdraw from the case. Johanna Laporte, spokeswoman for the council, said in an email another 30 people followed suit after hearing of Bastien’s complaint.