SC upholds validity of UP Madarsa Act

The order came as a big relief to teachers and students of UP madrassas. Pic/PTI

In a huge relief to madrassas in Uttar Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the constitutional validity of the 2004 Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Law and set aside an Allahabad High Court verdict quashing it on the ground that it was violative of the principle of secularism.

The HC erred in holding that the law was violative of the principle of secularism, said a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

"We have upheld the validity of the UP Madarsa law and moreover a statute can be struck down only if the State lacks the legislative competence," the CJI said while pronouncing the verdict.

The order came as a big relief to teachers and students of UP madrassas as the high court had ordered closure of the seminaries and relocation of students to other schools in the state.

The SC said the legislative scheme of the law was to standardise the level of education being prescribed in madrassas. The top court on October 22 reserved its verdict on pleas challenging the Allahabad HC judgment.

17L
No. of madrassa students in UP

Muslim clerics welcome SC verdict

Muslim religious leaders on Tuesday welcomed the SC order and said it is wrong to look at the seminaries with suspicion. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind's legal advisor Maulana Kab Rashidi said if the government wants there should be some improvement in madrassas, then it should sit with the stakeholders concerned and discuss it. He said the SC upheld the Act while protecting the spirit of the Constitution. "This is a very big message. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind welcomes this," said Rashidi. Senior member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said now madrasas can run with complete freedom.

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