New Delhi. The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board Act, 2004. The Supreme Court rejected the Allahabad High Court verdict of March 22, which had struck down the UP Madrassa Act. The Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the Allahabad High Court order, which had struck down the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board Act, 2004, calling it unconstitutional and violating the constitutional principle of secularism. Earlier, the Supreme Court had stayed the High Court’s decision in April.
A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra said it would list the petitions for final disposal on November 5. He also appointed lawyer Ruchira Goyal as nodal lawyer to ensure common collection of documents in electronic format.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for one of the petitioners, said a contempt petition was also filed against the state government.
The Supreme Court, while staying the decision of the High Court, said that the object and purpose of the Madrassa Board is regulatory in nature and it is not prima facie correct for the Allahabad High Court to say that the establishment of the Board would violate secularism. . The court had said that the High Court had prima facie misunderstood the provisions of the Madarsa Act, which does not provide for any religious education. The Supreme Court had said that the High Court struck down the provisions of the Madarsa Act and ordered the transfer of the students.
The Supreme Court had said that 17 lakh students would be affected by this… We believe that the direction of transferring students to other schools was not appropriate. Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, said the state government defended the law but accepted the High Court judgment striking it down.
Natraj said since the state has accepted the decision, it cannot now be burdened with the expenses of the law. The State can also repeal the law. If the matter needs to be considered, I will not obstruct it. He said the government will not close any madrassa.
Nataraj said the Uttar Pradesh government bears a financial burden of Rs 1,096 crore every year to support madrassas. High Court declares Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board Act unconstitutional
On March 22, the apex court declared the Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Board Act, 2004 unconstitutional and violative of the principle of secularism and asked the state government to accommodate the students in the formal school education system. The top court had declared the law void following a writ petition filed by lawyer Anshuman Singh Rathore.
