Allahabad High Court Seeks UP Govt Reply To PIL Alleging Selective Continuation Of Grant-In-Aid To Suspended Madrasas
Sparsh Upadhyay
19 Feb 2026 8:36 PM IST
The Allahabad High Court (Lucknow Bench) has sought the response of the Uttar Pradesh Government to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea, which alleges that there is no uniform State policy for continuing to grant aid to Madrasas despite their recognition having been suspended.
The PIL plea filed by social worker Azaj Ahmad, through Advocates Asok Pande and Vindeshwri Pandey, claims that while grant-in-aid is paid to certain recognized suspended institutions, the same is not being paid to others.
On Wednesday, Advocate Pande submitted that the Registrar of the Uttar Pradesh Madrasa Education Board has recommended stopping grant-in-aid to such suspended Madrasas, but the recommendation has not been acted upon, and apparently, no decision thereon has been taken.
Considering these submissions, a bench of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh directed the State counsel to obtain instructions on the matter before the next date of hearing.
The case will now come up for a hearing on March 30.
As per the PIL plea, approximately 18 State-aided Madrasas are currently functioning under suspension of recognition, yet the State Government continues to selectively disburse salaries and financial aid by exploiting a "statutory silence" in the UP Madrasa Education Board Act, 2004, and the 2016 Regulations.
The petition argues that this unguided administrative discretion violates the equality clause enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution of India, which strictly prohibits arbitrary State action and mandates equal treatment for all similarly situated entities.
Furthermore, the plea asserts that State grant-in-aid does not constitute a vested right, but rather is a conditional form of financial assistance, fundamentally dependent upon the continued existence of valid recognition and continuous compliance with prescribed statutory norms.