The Gauhati Supreme Court on Friday upheld the Assam Repeal Act, 2020, which requires all provincialized (government-funded) madrassas to be converted into general schools in Assam. A division bank, made up of Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Judge Soumitra Saikia, said the changes brought about by the state’s legislative and executive measures are only for the provincialized madrassas, which are government schools, not private or community schools.
It has also rejected a petition challenging the validity of the law. The subpoena was filed in 2021 by 13 individuals in the HC against the state government’s decision to convert the state-funded madrassas into general schools. The Court had closed the hearing on January 27 and had reserved its ruling, which was delivered on Friday.
The madrassas which are wholly maintained by the state cannot give religious instructions in terms of the mandate of Article 28(1) of the Constitution of India, the court said in its verdict. It also pointed out that the services of the teachers of the provincialized madrassas have not been left out and that, if necessary, they will be trained to teach other subjects.
The Honorable Supreme Court’s division bench has upheld the Assam Repeal Act of 2020, which repealed the Madrassa Provincialization Laws of 1995, 2011, and 2018, Assam Attorney General Devojit Saikia told PTI. In the same verdict, the HC also upheld all subsequent notifications from the government of Assam to convert madrassa institutions into general educational institutions.
The court upheld the law based on Article 28(1) of the constitution, which states that an educational institution may not provide religious instruction if such an institution is financed entirely from the state budget or public funds, Saikia said. The Assam Repeal Act will not affect private or community-run madrassas and will only affect 397 madrassas and four government-run Arab colleges, he added.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who pushed the Assam Repeal Bill in 2020 as the State Minister of Education, tweeted Division Bench of Honble Gauhati High Court in a landmark verdict handed down today, ratifying the 2020 law to enact the Madrassa Education Procincialization Acts and all other notices to convert 397 provincialized madrassas into general educational institutions. The bill was passed by the state assembly on December 30, 2020, requiring all provincialized, government-funded madrassas to be converted into general schools.
It sought to repeal the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization) Act, 1995, and the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization of Services of Employees and Re-Organization of Madrassa Education Institutions) Act, 2018. After the bill passed, another law regarding provincialization of madrassas passed by the state government in 2011 was repealed. The state government has assured that there will be no change in the status, remuneration, allowances and terms of service of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the madrassas under the Assam Repeal Act passed during the tenure of the first BJP-led government in the state.
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