India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI: On October 21, 2024, the Supreme Court issued an interim order restraining both the Union Government and the States from acting on communications from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) that sought to withdraw recognition from Madrassas not compliant with the Right to Education Act (RTE) of 2009 and mandated inspections of these institutions. This decision came during a hearing of a writ petition filed by Jamiat Ulema-I-Hind (Arshad Madani group) which challenged the NCPCR’s actions.
On June 7, 2024, the NCPCR directed the Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh to withdraw the recognition of any Madrassas failing to comply with the RTE Act. Subsequently, on June 25, the NCPCR wrote to the Secretary of the Department of Education & Literacy, urging that inspections be conducted on all Madrassas registered with the UDISE Code. The NCPCR recommended that the recognition and Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Code of Madrassas that do not meet RTE standards be revoked immediately, and suggested creating a separate category of UDIE to include all types of Madrassas—recognized, unrecognized, and unmapped.
Following this, on June 26, 2024, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary instructed District Collectors to investigate government-aided and recognized Madrassas admitting non-Muslim children, emphasizing the need for their immediate admission into regular schools. The Government of Tripura issued a similar directive on August 28, 2024. On July 10, 2024, the Union Government instructed all States and Union Territories to comply with the NCPCR’s recommendations.
Challenging these actions as violations of the constitutional right of religious minorities to provide education under Article 30, the petitioners approached the Supreme Court. The Court issued a notice, stating that the communications from June 7 and June 25, as well as subsequent communications from June 26, July 10, and August 28, would not be enforced pending further orders. The bench, responding to a request from advocate Indira Jaising, permitted the petitioners to include all States and Union Territories in the case. The petition was filed by advocate-on-record Fuzail Ahmed Ayyubi.
