Allahabad High Court declares UP Madarsa Education Act, 2004, unconstitutional for violating secularism. State to accommodate students in formal education. Madarsa Board Chairman to discuss further actions in response to the decision.

By PTI

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court ruled Friday that the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, is “unconstitutional” and violates the principle of secularism, and ordered the state government to accommodate current students in the formal schooling system.

A division bench of the Lucknow bench, comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi, declared the law ultra vires in response to a writ petition filed by Anshuman Singh Rathore.

In his reaction to the order, UP Madrasa Education Board Chairman Iftikhar Ahmed Javed said the board will study the decision and decide the further course of action.”Now after 20 years, the Madrasa Education Act has been declared unconstitutional.

Obviously there has been some mistake somewhere. Our lawyers could not present their case properly before the court,” he said.Senior All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rashid Farangi Mahali said the order should be challenged in the Supreme Court.The petitioner had challenged the constitutionality of the UP Madarsa Board as well as objected to the management of madarsa by the Minority Welfare Department, rather than the education department.

This story was originally published in timesofindia.indiatimes.com. Read the full story here.