All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi on Tuesday, November 5 welcomed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the 2004 Uttar Pradesh Board of Madrassa Education Law.
Asaduddin Owaisi stated that the Yogi government has been consistently attempting to defame madrasas and label them as illegal. “This is perhaps because the UP government hasn’t paid salaries to teachers appointed in 21,000 madrasas,” he said.
The AIMIM chief further added that the teachers did not restrict themselves to religious teaching but also science, math and other regular subjects. The unpaid salaries amounted to Rs 1,628.46 crore in 2022-23.
The Hyderabad MP hoped that these outstanding amounts would be paid at the earliest.
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 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 Allahabad High Court had ordered the 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.
