Supreme Court halts action on Madrassa recognition orders | Fusion - WeRIndia

The Supreme Court has intervened to halt actions aimed at revoking recognition from Madrassas not complying with the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

On October 21, 2024, the Court issued an interim order preventing both the Union Government and States from acting on communications from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

This decision came after the Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind filed a writ petition challenging the NCPCR’s directives.

In June 2024, the NCPCR initiated efforts to withdraw recognition from Madrassas failing to meet RTE standards.

On June 7, 2024, the NCPCR directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to revoke recognition of Madrassas that were not compliant.

Later, on June 25, 2024, the NCPCR requested inspections of all Madrassas registered with the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Code.

They suggested that Madrassas not meeting RTE requirements have their UDISE codes revoked.

In response, the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh instructed local officials to investigate Madrassas admitting non-Muslim students, urging their transfer to regular schools.

Other states followed suit, with Tripura issuing a similar directive on August 28, 2024.

Before that, i.e. on July 10, 2024, the Union Government directed all States and Union Territories to abide by the recommendations of NCPCR.

However, petitioners argued that these actions violated the constitutional rights of religious minorities to run educational institutions under Article 30 of the Constitution.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear the petition and issued a notice suspending the enforcement of the NCPCR’s communications from June and subsequent directives from Uttar Pradesh and Tripura.

The Court’s interim order will remain in place until further decisions are made.

Additionally, the petitioners, represented by advocate Indira Jaising, were allowed to include all States and Union Territories in the case.

Fuzail Ahmed Ayyubi served as the advocate-on-record for the petitioners.

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