UP MADARSA EDUCATION LAW'S VALIDITY UPHELD

The apex court said the state can however impose regulation as a condition for aid

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the positive concept of secularism required the state to treat minority institutions at par with secular ones and treat all equally irrespective of faith, belief.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra made the remarks while upholding the constitutional validity of the 2004 Uttar Pradesh Madrassa Education Law.

As a result, it set aside the March 22 Allahabad High Court order that quashed the madarsa law on the ground that it was violative of the principle of secularism.

The bench said, "The positive concept of secularism requires the state to take active steps to treat minority institutions on par with secular institutions while allowing them to retain their minority character. Positive secularism allows the state to treat some persons differently to treat all persons equally. The concept of positive secularism finds consonance in the principle of substantive equality." The bench said fundamental rights comprise both the negative and positive postulates and required the state to restrain its exercise of power and create conducive conditions for exercising these rights.