The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Allahabad high court order that declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, unconstitutional and violative of secularism. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud issued notice to Centre, and the Uttar Pradesh government on the plea challenging the High Court Order.
A division bench comprising Justices Vivek Chaudhary and Subhash Vidyarthi passed the verdict on a writ petition filed by a person named Anshuman Singh Rathore. As per the write petition, Rathore had challenged the constitutionality of the UP Madarsa Board as well as objected to the management of madarsa by the Minority Welfare Department, both by the Union of India and the state government.
After the Allahabad HC striked down the Act, UP Madrassa board chairman Dr Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said that the verdict would be analysed, news agency ANI reproted. "According to the High Court, the UP Madrassa Act that was introduced in 2004 has issues and is unconstitutional. We are trying to understand the verdict and will decide how to work in the coming days," Javed said as quoted by ANI. He had further added that the law was followed for 20 years, and if there were any issues, the government could decide how to solve them. "The act can be modified or a new act can be introduced. We will analyse this and make a decision. We respect the court's decision," he had said.