The Allahabad High Court
Credit: PTI Photo
Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Monday stayed the ongoing probe by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) into more than 500 government-aided ‘madarsas’ (Islamic seminaries) in Uttar Pradesh.
A division bench comprising Justices Saral Srivastava and Amitabh Kumar Rai passed the order on a petition filed by the Madarsa Teachers’ Association.
The EOW investigation had been initiated following a direction from the Human Rights Commission after a complaint by Mohammed Talha Ansari in April this year. However, the court ruled that the Commission’s order to launch a probe against the madarsas exceeded its jurisdiction.
The bench agreed with the lawyers representing the teachers that the Commission is not a tribunal empowered to investigate recruitment processes in madarsas. The court also observed that the complainant had no direct stake in the matter and described him as a “habituated complainant.”
The Madarsa Teachers’ Association argued that the Madarsa manual does not provide for an investigation through the EOW. The interim stay has brought relief to teachers appointed on the basis of ‘Kamil’ (UG) and ‘Fazil’ (PG) degrees. The Human Rights Commission had alleged financial irregularities, claiming these degrees had been deemed invalid by the Supreme Court.
The association’s lawyers pointed out that the Supreme Court’s decision becomes effective from November 5, 2024, but the petitioner had sought a halt on salary payments for all madarsa teachers.