UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004 ‘unconstitutional’, declares Allahabad HC

The Allahabad high court's Lucknow bench on 21 March declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 as ‘unconstitutional’.

The bench also directed the Yogi Adityanath-led State government to accommodate students studying in Madarsas in other schools.

The Lucknow bench comprised Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi.

They passed an order on a petition filed by Anshuman Singh Rathore, who challenged the constitutional validity of the Act and certain provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2012, said the report.

The new court order arrived months after the state government decided to survey the Islamic education institutions in Uttar Pradesh.

In October 2023, it also formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the funding of Madarsas from abroad.

The SIT team in its report recommended action against more than 8,000 madrasas and alleged that around 80 madrasas in border regions had received foreign funding totaling around ₹100 crores.

In December 2023, a division bench raised concerns about potential instances of arbitrary decision-making and the need for transparency in the administration of such educational institutions.

It is to be known that the high court in its previous hearings had raised inquiries directed at both the Union of India and the state government regarding the rationale behind operating the Madarsa Board under the purview of the minority department instead of the education department of the state.

Under the act, madrasas function under the state minority welfare ministry.