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06/11/24 10:03 AM IST

UP Madarsa Education Act upheld by SC

In News
  • A three-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, presided over by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, upheld the Constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 (Madarsa Act).
2004 UP Madrasa Act
  • The Madarsa Act provides the legal framework for madarsa education where, apart from the curriculum of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), religious education is imparted as well.
  • It created the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education, predominantly comprising members of the Muslim community.
  • The functions of the board are detailed under Section 9 of the Act and include preparing and prescribing course material and conducting exams for all courses from ‘Maulvi’ (equivalent to Class 10) to ‘Fazil’ (equivalent to a Master’s).
  • A lawyer had challenged the Act in a petition, saying “the provisions, scheme and the environment” created by it violated Articles 14 (right to equality before law), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth) and 21-A (right to free and compulsory education for children between the ages of 6 and 14) of the Constitution.
  • The madarsa Act failed to provide quality compulsory education up to the age of 14 years or Class 8, and universal and quality school education to all the children studying in madarsas, required under Article 21.
  • The UP government told the Supreme Court Bench it was of the view that the law is constitutional.
  • It said that the Act need not have been struck down in entirety and only the offending provisions need to have been examined.
  • According to data presented by the Centre to Parliament on February 3, 2020, as of 2018-19, of the total 24,010 madarsas in India, more than 60% — 14,528 — were in UP. These included 11,621 recognised madarsas.
  • About 1.69 lakh students sat for the UP madarsa education board examinations — equivalent to Class 10 and Class 12 — in 2023.
Allahabad HC's Decision
  • Referring to past SC cases, the HC held that secularism means “equal treatment to all religions and religious sects and denominations by the State, without either identifying itself with or favouring any particular religion, religious sect or determination”.
  • The court found that “… (it is) compulsory for a student of Madarsa to study in every class, Islam as a religion, including all its prescriptions, instructions and philosophies…
  • The modern subjects are either absent or are optional…” It held that the government has a duty to provide secular education, and cannot “discriminate” by providing education based on religion.
  • Article 21A of the Constitution states: “The State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of six to fourteen years in such manner as the State may, by law, determine.”
  • The HC held that the government was violating this right by denying “quality” education in modern subjects. “The State cannot hide behind the lame excuse that it is fulfilling its duty by providing traditional education on nominal fee.
  • The HC held that the provisions of the Madarsa Act empowering the madarsa board to grant degrees was in conflict with the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (UGC Act).
  • It stated that only universities or institutions “deemed to be a University” under Section 3 of the UGC Act can grant degrees, and “no other person or authority, including any Madarsa or the Madarsa Board, can confer any degree”.
Source- Indian Express

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