Rajasthan High Court Issues Notice To Union, State Govt On Plea Challenging Rajasthan Madarsa Board Act 2020

Hearing the matter on Wednesday, the bench of Chief Justice Indrajit Mahanty and Justice Vinit Kumar Mathur issued notice to the Union Of India and Rajasthan State Government and listed the matter after four weeks.

The State of Rajasthan had notified the Rajasthan Madarsa Board Act 2020 in the Official Gazette on September 23, 2020. 

The plea in brief

The plea has been moved by one Mukesh Jain, through Advocate Moti Singh averring that the state act violates the basic spirit of the Indian Constitution and goes on to promote a specific religion.

"By way of enactment of law for promotion and propagation of a particular religious ideology at the instance of the Government Fund and grant is like to destroy the fundamental rights of the other minorities of State," the plea states.

The plea prays for declaration of the Act as discriminatory, illegal and unconstitutional as it goes against the concept of Secular Democratic Republic.

The plea also submits that all kinds of issues with regard to establishment, affiliation, recognition of the minority educational institution is governed by the provision of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institution Act 2004 and thus, the plea argues, the State Government has framed the law with contrary provisions vis-à-vis law enacted by the Parliament.

The plea also avers that the State of Rajasthan has enacted this law in the garb of protection of Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution of India for promotion of a particular religious ideology between the minorities in the State of Rajasthan.

Submitting that the Madarsas need to adopt big reforms for providing modern secular education with the minimum requirement of the National Education Policy, the plea further avers thus:

"The Madarsas Establishment running in the State of Rajasthan have still not adopted the main Stream of the National Education Policy and they are also not governed from the program of the State Education and the examination conducted by the secondary board or Government."

Importantly, the plea also seeks direction from the Court that the State can't enact any law for propagation and promotion of any religious ideology in a secular democratic republic.

The reliefs prayed for: 

• The enactment of law by the State Legislation with regard to Rajasthan Madarsa Board Act, 2020 be declared illegal, arbitrary, discriminatory, and unconstitutional.
• The provisions of Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11,18, 21, 23 & 29 of the Rajasthan Madarsa Board Act, 2020 be declared as ultra vires of the preamble of the Constitution of India as well as the provision of Article 14, 16, 19, 21, 25, 26, 28, 29 & 30 of the Part 3^rd of Constitution of India.
• A declaration that the enactment is against the theory of secular Democratic State and also make discrimination with the other minority communities except Muslims of State, thus, may kindly be quashed and set aside being a discriminatory law.
• A declaration that the law and its provision are in contradiction with the provision of the National Commission of the minority Act 1992, the Rajasthan State Minority Commission Act 2001, and the National Commission for Minority Educational Institution Act 2004.
• The state of Rajasthan be directed to prescribe a common syllabus to achieve the theory of modern secular education in all minority institution according to the Education Policy 2020.
• The respondent-State be directed to not provide any kind of grant with regard to the construction of any building and other physical structures of any kind of Minority Institutions and the act of respondent-State to provide a grant for construction of building, furniture and other structures of various Madarsas may kindly be declared against the constitutional theory of Articles 29 & 30 of the Constitution of India.

Case title - Mukesh Jain v. State of Rajasthan

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