SC upholds constitutional validity of UP Madarsa Act, bars Board from awarding ‘Fazil and Kamil’ degrees

The Supreme Court on Nov 5 upheld the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004, except for its provisions allowing the Board to award higher degrees like Fazil and Kamil.

Kamil is the diploma of Islamic upper secondary education and Fazil is a degree-level course, usually 3–4 years after Maulana.

The court said that the awarding of higher degrees was unlawful since it is in conflict with the provisions of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud set aside the March 22 ruling of the Allahabad High Court which held the Act was unconstitutional.

While reading out the verdict CJI said, “The Madrasa Act regulates the standard of education in Madarsa as recognized by the Board for imparting Madarsa education….is consistent with the positive obligation of the state to ensure that students studying and recognized Madrasas attain a level of competency which will allow them to effectively participate in society and earn a living” and “Article 21A (of the Constitution) and the Right to Education (RTE) Act have to be read consistently with the right of religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer education institutions of their choice.”

The bench also comprising Justices — J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted while “the Madrasa Act is within the legislative competence of the state legislature”, the Act “to the extent to which it seeks to regulate higher education, including the degrees of Fazil and Kamil is beyond the legislative competence of the state legislature since it conflicts with section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act…The UGC act governs the standards for higher education, and the state legislation cannot seek to regulate higher education in contravention of the provision of the UGC Act.”

The Court said, “Board with the approval of the state government can enact regulations to ensure that religious minority institutions impart secular education of a requisite standard without destroying the minority character.”

The High Court had struck down the Act saying it violated the principles of secularism, which is a feature of the basic structure of the constitution.
On this, the SC bench said, “A statute can be struck down only for the violation of part 3 or any other provision of the constitution or for being without legislative competence. The constitutional validity of a statute cannot be challenged for violation of the basic structure of the constitution.”

“This court has accepted that a challenge to the constitution validity of a statute for violation of the basic structure of the constitution is a technical aspect because the infraction has to be traced to the express provisions of the constitution. Hence, in a challenge to the validity of a statute for violation of the principle of secularism, it must be shown that the statute violates provisions of the constitution relating to secularism.” It added.

It noted, “the High Court erred in holding that the statute is bound to be struck down if it is violative of the basic structure.”

The court held that “the right of minorities to administer educational institutions is not absolute” and “the state has an interest in maintaining the standards of education in minority educational institutions and may impose regulation as a condition for grant of aid or recognition. The constitutional scheme allows the state to strike a balance between the two objectives of…ensuring the standard of excellence of minority education institutions, and…preserving the right of the minority to establish and administer its education institutions.”

It added, “The state can regulate aspects of the standards of education, such as the courses of study, the qualification, appointment of teachers, the health and hygiene of students, and facilities for libraries.”

The SC said that the Madrasa Act “the provisions of the Act are reasonable because they subserve the objective recognition that is improving the academic excellence of students in the recognized Madrasas and making them capable to sit for examinations conducted by the board. The Madrasa Act secures the interest of the minority community in Uttar Pradesh because…it regulates the standard of education imparted by recognized madrassas, and…it conducts examinations that confer certificates to students, allowing them the opportunity to pursue higher education.”

“The Madrasa Act is consistent with the positive obligation of the state to ensure that students studying in the recognized Madrasas attain a minimum level of competency, which will allow them to effectively participate in society and earn a living.” It added.

According to the ruling “The High Court erred in holding that the education provided under the Madrasa Act is violative of Article 21A (of the Constitution) because the Right to Education Act, which facilitates the fulfillment of the fundamental right under Article 21A, contain the specific provision by which it does not apply to minority educational institutions”.

It added, “the right of religious minority to establish and administer to impart both religious and secular education is protected by Article 30” and “the Board and the state government have sufficient regulatory powers to prescribe and regulate standards of education for the Madrasas.”
The court said that “while the Madrasas do impact religious instruction, their primary aim is education.”

It added, “Entry 25 of list 3 (concurrent list), which pertains to education, must be given a wide meaning to include all ancillary subjects comprehended within the entry. The mere fact that the education sought to be regulated includes some religious teachings or instruction does not automatically push the legislation outside the legislative competence of the state.”