NCPCR’s focus on madrasas: SC asks whether other religious schools face similar scrutiny

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) why it was primarily concerned with madrasas, following the child rights body’s claim that students from these institutions struggle to pursue careers in fields like medicine and engineering.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, made these comments while reserving their judgement on petitions contesting the Allahabad High Court's ruling. The High Court had previously deemed the 2004 Uttar Pradesh law governing madrasas unconstitutional, claiming it violated secularism principles.

Senior advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, representing the NCPCR, argued that madrasas should not be viewed as a substitute for mainstream education, highlighting that students from madrasas lack access to opportunities in fields like the navy, medicine, and engineering.

"Has NCPCR issued any instructions, cutting across communities, that you will not take children into your religious institutions unless they are taught secular subjects? asked the CJI. The NCPCR responded that it did not object to madrasa education as a supplement to school education but insisted it should not replace it. The NCPCR had also submitted a report addressing deficiencies in the madrasa system and had urged states to conduct inspections.

The bench further questioned whether the NCPCR had taken a similar stance towards educational institutions of other religions, noting the prevalence of religious instruction across various faiths in India. The NCPCR maintained that religious education should not replace mainstream education.

However, the Supreme Court probed deeper, asking whether the NCPCR had issued any directives preventing children from attending monasteries, pathshalas, or similar institutions and whether it mandated that children be taught subjects like science and mathematics at these places.

The court asked, "Why are you only concerned with madrasas? We would like to know if you have dealt with other institutes. Has NCPCR been even-handed in its treatment of all communities."

On Monday, SC put a hold on the communications issued by NCPCR, which had called on states to move students from unrecognised madrasas to government schools.