Decision To Close All Madrassas In The State Not A Final One, Assam Govt. Informs Gauhati High Court

The Bench of Justice Achintya Malla Bujor Barua was hearing the Writ Petition filed by Students/Parents of the Students, who are presently undertaking education in the provincialized Madrassa Institutions in the State of Assam.

They were aggrieved by the communication dated 07.10.2020 of the Deputy Secretary to the Government of Assam to the Director of Secondary Education, Assam through which it was informed that the Government has decided to close the Madrassas and further about 148 numbers of contractual Maddrassa teachers may be shifted to schools under the Secondary Education Department of Assam.

Contentions raised by the Petitioners

The petitioners raised the contention that,

· The decision to close down the Madrassas would "adversely affect the prospects of the petitioners inasmuch as they are presently pursuing their education in the Madrassa education stream."

· The provincialized Maddrassas are a result of the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Reorganisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018 and therefore, "as the provincialized Maddrassas itself are result of a statutory provision, therefore, the same cannot be closed down merely through an administrative communication."

· The decision to close down is an outrageous defiance of logic.

State's Response

The Counsel for the respondents informed the Court that although the expression decision had been used in the communication dated 07.10.2020, infact, "it is not a final decision of the State authorities and on the other hand, the expression decision merely refers to the initiation of a process by the State authorities to bring about a closure of the Madrassa Institutions."

It was further stated that,

"The Government Authorities are conscious and aware of the adverse consequences that the students pursuing their education in the Madrassa stream may have to face in the event of an abrupt closure without any effective alternative and therefore the procedures adopted would be such that it would ensure that atleast the present batch of students who are in the Intermediate (final FM), Final (FM) and MM are allowed to complete the courses that they may be presently undergoing."

Court's Observations

Taking into account the statement of Counsel for the State government authorities in the Secondary Education Department of the Government of Assam that the decision is not a final decision, the Court noted,

"The grievances of the petitioners for setting aside the decision contained in the impugned communication dated 07.10.2020 have been take care of."

The Court further noted that the grievances of the petitioners is that the Madrassa Institutions should not be immediately closed down as because it may adversely affect the prospects of the students who are presently pursuing the course has also been taken care of.

In this context, the Court remarked,

"Infact, we cannot but agree with the submission of the learned senior counsel that in the given circumstances as indicated above by the State government authorities, this writ petition is presently premature."

Consequently, the Court closed the writ petition for the present and gave the liberty to the Petitioners to approach the High Court again "if and when it may be deemed appropriate and necessary."

Case title – Ubaidulla and 16 ors. v. The State of Assam and 2 ors. [WP(C)/4766/2020]