The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to explain why there is no uniform policy regarding grant-in-aid to institutions whose recognition has been suspended.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Azaj Ahmad.
The petitioner contended that the state was adopting a discriminatory approach by continuing to release grant-in-aid to certain institutions despite suspension of their recognition, while denying the same benefit to others in similar circumstances.
It was submitted that such differential treatment lacked any rational basis and warranted judicial scrutiny.
Counsel for the petitioner, Ashok Pande, informed the court that the Registrar of the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education had recommended stopping grant-in-aid to madrassas whose recognition had been suspended. However, the state government had not taken any final decision on the recommendation.
The petitioner argued that in the absence of a clear policy, authorities were granting or withholding financial aid arbitrarily.
Taking note of the submissions, the bench sought a response from the state government on the issue of the absence of a uniform policy for disbursement of grant-in-aid to institutions with suspended recognition.
The court directed the state to file its reply before the next date of hearing, March 30.
