Supreme Court stays Allahabad HC order declaring UP Madrassa Act unconstitutional

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The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad high court order which had declared the UP Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, unconstitutional.

According to LiveLaw, the three-judge bench, led by CJI DY Chandrachud, said that striking down the Act's provisions will affect the lives of around 17 lakh students.

"We are of the view that the issues raised in the petitions merit closer reflection. We are inclined to issue notice," the apex court observed while issuing notices to the Centre, the UP government and others on the pleas against the high court order.

The SC-bench said that in striking down the Act, the high court prima facie misconstrued the provisions of the Act. "The object and purpose of Madrassa board is regulatory in nature and the Allahabad HC is not prima facie correct that establishment of board will breach secularism," the bench, also comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, said.

"The finding of the high court that the very establishment of the board would violate secularism appears to conflate Madrassa education with the regulatory powers of the board," the top court added.

At the outset, senior advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhi, appearing for the Managers Association Madaris, submitted that the madrassa regime was a status quo that existed for 120 years which is now disrupted suddenly, affecting 17 lakh students and 10,000 teachers. Terming the reasonings of the high court 'astonishing', he argued that it did not examine the locus standi of the petitioner who challenged the Act.

"If you strike down the Act, you make the madrassas unregulated," he added.

Refuting the high court's contention that modern subjects were not taught in madrassas, Singhvi submitted that Mathematics, Science, Hindi, English and other subjects were taught there. He said it was wrong to assume that only religious education was imparted at Madarsas.

Additional Solicitor General KM Nataraj, appearing for Uttar Pradesh, submitted that the state government defended the Act but has accepted the high court's judgement which struck down the law.