An appeal has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging a decision by the Gauhati High Court which upheld the Assam Repealing Act of 2020.
The Assam Repealing Act of 2020 has turned all the existing madrassas of Assam into regular school with all subjects.
An appeal was filed in this regard by Md. Imad Uddin Barbhuiya who states that the act is violative as it does not allow the imparting of religious instructions.
The appeal said
“The repealing Act of 2020 takes away property coupled with statutory recognition of Madrassa education and the impugned order dated February 12, 2021 issued by the Governor disbands the ‘Assam State Madrasa Board’ created in 1954. It amounts to an arbitrary exercise of both legislative and executive powers and amounts to a denial of the Petitioner Madrassas’ ability to continue as madrassas providing religious instruction coupled with religious education,”
The reason that this Act created ripples is that it repealed two laws – the Assam Madrassa Education Provincialisation Act, 1995, and the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Reorganisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.
The petitioners who filed their petition before the High Court mentioned before the honorable court that this act infringes their fundamental rights under Articles 14, 21, 25, 26, 29 and 30 of the Constitution as this coverts minority institutions to government ones.
On February 4,the High Court held that Government-funded madrassas should be administered by the minority as they are minority institution is a baseless fact.
“Though a religious minority has a right to establish and administer educational institution of its choice, yet once such educational institution starts getting maintained wholly out of the State funds then religious instructions cannot be imparted in such an institution.” the High Court had observed.
The Court clearly said that as all the teaching and non-teaching staff is a government servant in a State madrassas it should not be said that it should be established or run by minority..
The appeal before the Supreme Court said that as per the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization) Act, 1995 which was repealed by the 2020 Act,the stake of state is only limited to pay the salaries along with consequential benefits,administration and management control for the teaching and non-teaching staff.
“The land and building belong to the madrassas are taken care by the Petitioners and the expenditures on electricity and furniture are borne by the Petitioner madrassas themselves,” the plea said.
It was submitted before the court that the repealing Act will, take away the right to provide religious instructions.
“Such an encroachment into the proprietary rights of the Petitioner Madrassas without payment of adequate compensation is a direct infraction of Article 30(1A) of the Constitution of India,” the petition stated.
The petition further said that which the act being repealed, his madrassas will be closed for the old courses of the Academic year for the children who have been studying.