SC issues notice on plea to accommodate students after Madrasa degrees declared unconstitutional

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Centre, the

Uttar Pradesh government

, and the

UP Madarsa Education Board

on a plea seeking the transfer or accommodation of students enrolled in ‘Fazil and Kamil’ courses to recognized educational institutions.
The petition, filed by 10 students, follows the apex court's verdict declaring these higher-education degrees in madarsas unconstitutional.
The plea said that the ruling has affected the future of more than 25,000 students enrolled in the courses.
Earlier, on November 5, 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of the 2004 Uttar Pradesh law regulating Muslim minority educational institutions, ruling that a statute cannot be struck down solely on the ground of secularism. This decision overturned an earlier Allahabad high court judgment, which had ordered the closure of such institutions and directed the state to accommodate students in formal schools.

A bench comprising the then Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra s that a law can only be declared unconstitutional if it exceeds legislative competence or violates fundamental rights or any other constitutional provision.
The court had ruled that the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, falls within the legislative authority of the state, citing Entry 25 of List III of the Constitution. However, the court held that the law’s provisions regulating higher education—specifically the degrees of Fazil and Kamil—exceeded state legislative competence as they conflicted with the University Grants Commission (UGC) Act.
"The UGC Act governs the standards for higher education, and state legislation cannot regulate higher education in contravention of its provisions," the bench observed, declaring that part of the 2004 law unconstitutional.