Uttarakhand High Court issued notice to state government

Report Amaanullah Usmani

New Delhi/Nainital. On the petition of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani, on 21 October 2024, the then Chief Justice V.I. A 3-member bench headed by Chandrachud had stayed any kind of action against madrasas and all those notices which were issued to madrasas by various states, especially Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand government.

The court had also said that till any further order is issued by the court, if any new notice or order is issued by the central or state government in this regard, then the ban will also be considered applicable.

Despite this, unjust and discriminatory action against madrasas continued in Uttar Pradesh, Tripura and Uttarakhand etc. In protest against this, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind had filed a petition in the Supreme Court. Hearing this, the court had directed Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind to appeal to the Uttarakhand High Court on 14 May 2025. Acting on this, a petition was filed in the Uttarakhand High Court, which was heard today.In its petition, Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has said that registration has not been made compulsory in the Uttarakhand Madrasa Education Board Act 2016, nor have unregistered madrasas been declared illegal. The petition also highlights the fact that the Right to Education (Amendment) Act 2012 clearly exempts madrasas, Vedic schools and other such religious educational institutions from this law.

The petition also cites several Supreme Court judgments, in which minorities have been given protection from state interference, recognizing their unlimited right to establish and run their educational institutions. The petition also states that targeting only madrasas in Uttarakhand is unconstitutional, discriminatory and based on malice.

It is noteworthy that today the bench headed by the Chief Justice heard the case and issued a notice to the state government on the ongoing illegal action against madrasas. Chief Justice Gohantan Narendra and Justice Subhash Upadhyay ordered the government to file a reply after hearing the arguments of senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde, who appeared on behalf of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind.

During the hearing, Sanjay Hegde told the court that religious madrasas in the state are being closed continuously without notice, while according to the Madrasa Act, registration of madrasas is not mandatory. The Constitution has also given the minorities the right to establish their own institutions.

The government lawyer objected to the petition filed on behalf of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind and said that Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind does not have the legal right to file a petition in this matter, because the madrasas against which action has been taken are not present before the court today. On this, the Chief Justice asked Sanjay Hegde why the court should hear his petition, as he is not directly affected. On this Sanjay Hegde said that this is not just a matter of closing down madrasas, but anyone can approach the court against the arbitrary action taken by the government. Our demand is that the court should stop the government from acting arbitrarily and make it binding on the law.

He further said that the action being taken by the state government against madrasas is a violation of Articles 14, 15, 19, 25, 26 and 30, the constitutional rights granted to minorities.

Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind President Maulana Arshad Madani, in response to a question on Jamiat’s move, said that providing justice to the oppressed and serving without any discrimination on the basis of humanity is the mission of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. Jamiat has approached the court on the request of the affected people. He said that people are foolish, whereas it is written in history books that the campaign to free the country from British slavery was started by the Ulama. These Ulama were the products of madrasas.

He further said that Darul Uloom Deoband was established with the purpose of preparing fighters to fight the freedom struggle against the British and to free the country. Those who are doing all this against madrasas today are actually unaware of the real character of madrasas. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has a deep relationship with madrasas and all our elders have studied here. Actually Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind is the voice and mind of madrasas. Communal forces are unaware of this history. It was the Ulama of these madrasas who blew the trumpet of freedom when the whole community was in deep sleep. Madrasas can be called our (heartbeat) and closing them down by declaring them illegal is a conspiracy to end our “lifeline”. Maulana Arshad Madani said that taking action by declaring madrasas illegal is also an insult to the decisions of the Supreme Court. Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind has once again started its legal battle against this conspiracy, because the protection of madrasas is actually the protection of religion. This campaign is a serious attack on the religious freedom of Muslims. He said that we will continue our legal and democratic battle for democracy, supremacy of the Constitution and protection of madrasas.