Representative image showing a madrasa in India. Credit:
Credit: iStock Photo
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday set aside the Allahabad High Court's judgment of March 22, 2024, which struck down the UP Madrasas Act, 2004 as unconstitutional and violative of the principle of secularism.
A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra upheld the validity of the law, holding the state has got a vital interest in regulating madrasas to improve standards of education there.
The judgment was rendered on a plea filed by Anjum Kadari and others.
However, the bench declared that the Act, to the extent where it regulated higher education in relation to 'Fazil' and 'Kamil' degrees, was in conflict with the UGC Act and to that extent, was unconstitutional.
The bench pointed out the Act regulated the standards of education in the state of Uttar Pradesh.
"The right of minorities to administer educational institutions is not absolute and the State can regulate the standards of such education. The provisions are reasonable as they subserve the need of regulation and secure the interests of the minority community as they regulate the standards of education, conduct examinations and confer certificates allowing them to pursue higher education," the bench said.
The court also pointed out that though the madrasas provide religious instructions, their primary aim is education.
The court had reserved its judgment on October 22, observing that religious instructions are never an anathema in the country, as it is available not just for Muslims, but for Hindus, Sikhs, Christians etc and the country ought to be a melting pot of cultures, civilizations, and religions.
"In fact, the answer to ghettoisation is to allow people to come to the mainstream and to allow them to come together. Otherwise, what we essentially would be doing is to keep them in silos," the court had said.
The UP government, which did file an appeal, also contended that the High Court should have only struck down the provisions which are violative of the fundamental rights instead of nullifying the entire regulatory framework.
During the hearing, the court observed the students of madrasas should receive quality education but to throw out the Act is like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.
The bench said secularism means to live and let live.
The bench and also observed striking down the entire Act would mean that the madrasas would remain unregulated.
"Is it not in our national interest that the Madrasas are regulated? One cannot wish away 700 yrs of history like this. Suppose we uphold the HC order, the parents of children will still send them to Madrasa, it will just be a silo without any legislative intervention," the bench had said.
The court said the Act gave rule-making powers to the State to lay down standards.