The Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, has been declared "unconstitutional" and has been deemed as violative of the principle of secularism by the Allahabad High Court. It has further ordered the state government to accommodate students studying at a madrasa into the formal schooling system, a PTI report stated.
The Lucknow bench of the court, represented by a division bench consisting of Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, declared the law ultra vires in response to a writ petition submitted by an individual named Anshuman Singh Rathore.
The Constitutionality of the UP Madarsa Board was challenged by Rathore, further, the management of these madarsas by the Minority Welfare department, both by the Union of India and the state government, was objected to.
Madarsas received crores of foreign fundings
The decision was taken months after the state government had initiated a survey to look into the Islamic Institutions that were being run in the state. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed in October 2003 to look into the funding that was received by these madarsas from foreign sources.
According to a report by Hindustan Times, the investigation had called for action to be taken against more than 8,000 madarsas currently operating in the state.
