Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Act: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court has declared the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Act 2004 unconstitutional. The bench has ordered the UP government to shift the children studying in the madrassa to other schools.
Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court have given this order. Anshuman Singh Rathore had filed a petition challenging the validity of the Act. Besides, he had also mentioned the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (Amendment) Act, 2012 in his petition.
The order of the High Court has come after the step taken by the state government in which it had conducted a survey of madrassas and Islamic educational institutions running in the state. Besides, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was also formed in October 2023 to investigate the funding of madrassas.
In the investigation report of SIT, action was recommended against 8000 madrassas. The report also revealed foreign funding of Rs 100 crore to madrassas running near the border. In December last year, the Division Bench had pointed out the lack of transparency in the administration of these madrassas.