Thousands of students studying in madrassas in Uttar Pradesh have got a big relief from the Supreme Court. The court set aside the decision of the Allahabad High Court, in which the court had declared that the Madrasa Act was contrary to the Constitution. The court said in its decision that all madrassas will be able to issue certificates up to class 12, but madrassas will not have the authority to issue education certificates beyond that class. This means that madrassas recognized by the UP Madrassa Board will not be able to grant Kamil and Fazil degrees to students as it would be against the UGC Act.
This decision means that madrassas will continue to operate in Uttar Pradesh and the state government will regulate educational standards.
What is the title of Kamil and Fazil?
The Madrasa Board awards undergraduate degrees under the name ‘Kamil’ and postgraduate degrees under the name ‘Fazil’. Below this the diploma is also made, which is called ‘Kari’. The board also conducts Munshi, Maulvi (10th class) and Alim (12th class) exams every year.
16 thousand madrasas received relief
This decision on the Madarsa Act has been taken by the bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra. The court said the High Court’s decision was not correct. Along with this, the Supreme Court Bench has also justified the Madarsa Act.
With this decision of the Supreme Court, 16,000 madrasas of Uttar Pradesh have got relief. This means that now madrassas will continue to function within Uttar Pradesh. The total number of madrasas in the state is around 23,500. Of them, 16,513 madrasas are recognized. That means they are all registered. Furthermore, around 8,000 madrassas are not recognised. There are 560 recognized madrassas receiving help. That means 560 madrasas are run on government money.
Let us tell you that the Supreme Court had reserved its decision after completing the hearing on October 22. However, during the hearing, the CJI said granting degrees under Fazil and Kamil is not within the purview of the state. This violates the provisions of the UGC Act.
Why did the High Court strike down the law?
A person named Anshuman Singh Rathod had filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court against the Madrasa Board Act. Rathore had questioned the constitutional validity of this law. The High Court issued its verdict in this regard on March 22. The High Court had said, “The UP Madrasa Board Education Act, 2004 is unconstitutional and violates the principle of secularism.” Furthermore, the state government was directed to include children studying in madrasas in the general school system.
The Allahabad High Court had said: “The Madrassa Act, 2004 is a violation of the principle of secularism, which forms part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India.” The court also said the government has no authority to create a religious education board or a school education board for any particular religion.
What is the madrasa law?
This law was enacted in Uttar Pradesh in the year 2004. The Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board Act, 2004 was enacted to regulate Madrassa education in Uttar Pradesh. This act established the Uttar Pradesh Madrasah Education Board, a statutory body responsible for overseeing the administration and functioning of madrassas in the state. Under this, the Madrasa Board was formed. Its purpose was to organize madrasah education. In this, education has been defined as Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Islamic studies, tibb (traditional medicine) and philosophy.
There are 25,000 madrasas in UP, of which around 16,000 are recognized by the UP Madrasah Board. There are eight thousand five hundred madrasas that have not been recognized by the Madrasah Board.
