Context:
Supreme Court upheld constitutional validity of Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act 2004 (Madarsa Act) in Anjum Kadari and Another v. Union of India.
Anjum Kadari and Another v. Union of India and Others (2024):
- The Supreme Court set aside the Allahabad High Court’s judgment that struck down the Madarsa Act.
- The High Court had invalidated the Act for violating the principle of secularism (a basic structure of the Constitution) and Articles 14, 21, and 21-A
- It also held that the act ultra vires Section 22 of the UGC Act, 1956 which states that no degrees can be conferred by any institution other than the institutions defined under UGC Act.
Key Highlights of SC Judgment:
- Reversal of HC Order – The Supreme Court clarified that a statute can be struck down only if it violates Fundamental Rights under Part III of the Constitution, not merely for violating the basic structure.
- The reason is that concepts such as democracy, federalism, and secularism are undefined concepts.
- According to the verdict, allowing courts to strike down legislation for violation of such concepts will introduce an element of uncertainty in our constitutional adjudication
- The top court had used the Basic Structure doctrine, evolved in the 1973 Kesavananda Bharati case, for the first time in the Raj Narain case to strike down a Constitutional Amendment.
- The judges on the Raj Narain Bench had differentiated between an ordinary statute and a Constitutional Amendment.
- Rationale of the Madarsa Act – The Act aims to regulate educational standards in Madarsas recognized by the Board, ensuring students achieve competency for active socio-economic participation.
- Legislative Competence – The Act falls within the legislative competence of the State Legislature, traceable to Entry 25 of the Concurrent List (education, including technical and medical education, and universities).
- Partial Unconstitutionality – Provisions regulating higher education degrees like ‘fazil’ (post-graduate) and ‘kamil’ (undergraduate) are unconstitutional as they conflict with the UGC Act.
Read about National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions
Source: The Indian Express
Previous Year Question
With reference to educational institutions during colonial rule in India, consider the following pairs:
Institution Founder
1. Sanskrit College at Benaras William Jones
2. Calcutta Madrasa Warren Hastings
3. Fort William College Arthur Wellesley
Which of the pairs given above is/are correct?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2018 Prelims]
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 3 only
Answer: (b)
Explanation:
Pair 1 is not correctly matched: Jonathan Duncan founded the Sanskrit College at Benares.
Pair 3 is not correctly matched: Fort William College was founded by Richard Wellesley in 1801 to train the young British recruits to the civil service in India.