State Can't Provide Separate Education Systems For Separate Religions, It Violates Principles Of Secularism: Allahabad HC Strikes Down 'UP Madrasa Act'

While declaring the 'UP Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004' as UNCONSTITUTIONAL, the Allahabad High Court today ruled that the a Secular State has no power to create a Board for religious education or to establish a Board for school education only for a particular religion and philosophy associated with it Emphasizing that the State has the foremost duty to provide education to children which is secular in nature, a division bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi categorically held that the state cannot discriminate and provide different types of education to children belonging to different religions. “Since providing education is one of the primary duties of the State, it is bound to remain secular while exercising its powers in the said field. It cannot provide for education of a particular religion, its instructions, prescriptions and philosophies or create separate education systems for separate religions. Any such action on the part of the State would be violative of the principles of secularism, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India…Such an action on the part of the State is not only unconstitutional but also highly divisive of the society on religious lines,” the Court remarked. In this regard, the Court also added that if any legislative Act of the State is violative of the basic structure of the Constitution, which is one of the core principles of which is secularism, then, it is bound to be struck down. With this, the Court found the 2004 Act to be violative of the principles of secularism and the Constitution of India. The Court also inferred that the education being provided under the Madarsa Act is violative of Articles 21 and 21A of the Constitution of India.The occasion to make these observations arose while the HC was dealing with a writ petition filed by one Anshuman Singh Rathore challenging the vires of the UP Madarsa Board on the ground that the same violates the principle of Secularism, which forms a part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India as well Articles 14, 15 and 21-A of the same. The Court, in its 86-page order categorically found that the Education being provided by the Madarsa Board is in violation of the standards prescribed by the Supreme Court. “…education under the Madarsa Act is certainly not equivalent to the education being imparted to the students of other regular educational institutions recognized by the State Primary and High School and Intermediate Boards and, therefore, the educations being imparted in Madarsas is neither 'quality' nor 'universal' in nature,” the Court held. Examining the aims and objective of the Act, the Court observed that it did not specify the rationale behind establishing a separate education board for a particular religion even when the state of Uttar Pradesh already had secular primary education boards and boards for high school and intermediate education, which provided education without discrimination based on religion. Further, perusing the curriculum of the Madras Board prescribed education, the Court observed that the Madrasa students are required to study Islam comprehensively, including its doctrines, teachings, and philosophies, to progress to the next class and that modern subjects are either not included or offered as optional, with students having the choice to study only one optional subject. “While the students of all other religions are getting educated in all modern subject denial of the same quality by the Madarsa Board amounts to violation of both Article 21-A as well as Article 21 of the Constitution of India,” the Court observed. Importantly, the Court also found that provisions of the Act of 2004 confer such powers on the Madarsa Board which are vested in the University Grants Commission by the UGC Act which fall within the domain of Entry 66 of List I of the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. Consequently, the court concluded that the Madrasa Act also violated Article 246(1) of the Constitution of India and was declared unconstitutional to that extent. In view of the above discussion, the Court found the Madarsa Act, 2004 to be violative of the principle of Secularism, which is a part of the basic structure of the Constitution of India, violative of Articles 14, 21 and 21-A of the Constitution of India and violative of Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. However, given the substantial presence of Madrasas and their students in the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Court directed the State Government to promptly integrate such Madrasa students into mainstream education by enrolling them in established schools recognized under the Primary Education Board and the High School and Intermediate Education Board of the state. Top of Form “The State Government for the said purpose shall ensure that as per requirement...

State Can't Provide Separate Education Systems For Separate Religions, It Violates Principles Of Secularism: Allahabad HC Strikes Down 'UP Madrasa Act'

Sparsh Upadhyay

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