Lucknow, 22 March

The Allahabad High Court on Friday declared the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004, "unconstitutional" and violative of the principle of secularism, and asked the state government to accommodate current students in the formal schooling system.

A division bench comprising Justice Vivek Chaudhary and Justice Subhash Vidyarthi of the Lucknow branch of the court declared the law ultra vires on a writ petition filed by a person named Anshuman Singh Rathore.

Rathore had challenged the constitutionality of the UP Madarsa Board as well as objected to the management of madarsa by the Minority Welfare department, both by Union of India and the state government.