India
oi-PTI
In
a
big
relief
to
madrassas
in
Uttar
Pradesh,
the
Supreme
Court
on
Tuesday
upheld
the
constitutional
validity
of
the
2004
Uttar
Pradesh
Board
of
Madrassa
Education
Law
and
set
aside
an
Allahabad
High
Court
verdict
quashing
it
on
the
ground
that
it
was
violative
of
the
principle
of
secularism.
The
high
court
erred
in
holding
that
the
law
was
violative
of
the
principle
of
secularism,
said
a
bench
comprising
Chief
Justice
of
India
(CJI)
D
Y
Chandrachud
and
Justices
J
B
Pardiwala
and
Manoj
Misra.
“We
have
upheld
the
validity
of
the
UP
madrassa
law
and
moreover
a
statute
can
be
struck
down
only
if
the
State
lacks
the
legislative
competence,” the
CJI
said
while
pronouncing
the
verdict.
The
order
came
as
a
big
relief
to
teachers
and
students
of
UP
madrassas
as
the
high
court
had
ordered
closure
of
the
seminaries
and
relocation
of
students
to
other
schools
in
the
state.
The
SC
said
the
legislative
scheme
of
the
law
was
to
standardise
the
level
of
education
being
prescribed
in
madrassas.
The
top
court
on
October
22
reserved
its
verdict
on
pleas
challenging
the
Allahabad
High
Court
judgement.
The
bench
heard
a
battery
of
lawyers
on
behalf
of
eight
petitioners,
including
Anjum
Kadari,
besides
Additional
Solicitor
General
K
M
Natraj,
who
appeared
for
the
Uttar
Pradesh
government,
for
almost
two
days
before
reserving
the
verdict.
On
March
22,
the
Allahabad
High
Court
declared
the
Act
as
“unconstitutional” and
violative
of
the
principle
of
secularism,
and
asked
the
state
government
to
accommodate
madrassa
students
in
the
formal
schooling
system.
In
a
breather
for
about
17
lakh
madrassa
students,
the
SC
stayed
the
HC
order
on
April
5.
