Allahabad High Court Deems UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004 Unconstitutional
The decision follows the state government’s move to survey Islamic educational institutions in the region, which occurred several months ago
In Lucknow, the Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench announced on Friday that the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, is unconstitutional. The court instructed the state government to enroll students from Madarsas into other schools.
A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi issued the order in response to a petition filed by Anshuman Singh Rathore. The petition challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, as well as specific provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2012.
Months prior to the ruling, the state government initiated a survey of Islamic educational institutions in the state. Additionally, in October 2023, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to investigate the foreign funding of Madrasas.
The investigation report suggested taking action against over 8,000 madrasas. It revealed that approximately 80 madrasas in border areas had received foreign funding amounting to about ₹100 crores.
In December of last year, a division bench expressed concerns regarding potential cases of arbitrary decision-making and emphasized the necessity for transparency in the management of such educational institutions.
During previous hearings, the high court had posed questions to both the Union of India and the state government regarding the reasoning behind placing the Madarsa Board under the jurisdiction of the minority department rather than the state’s education department.
The Act allows madarsas to operate under the state minority welfare ministry. This raises the question of whether it’s arbitrary for madrasa education to fall under the minority welfare department while other educational institutions, including those for other minority communities like Jains, Sikhs, and Christians, are under the education ministry.
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