A court in Kashmir has ordered the re-opening of a seminary that was shut down under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, observing that education should not be allowed to suffer.

The ruling brings relief to students of the Siraj-ul-Aloom seminary, whose studies were disrupted by the closure of their institution.

The court’s reasoning

In ordering the seminary’s re-opening, the court emphasised that the right to education must be protected even as legal proceedings take their course. Shutting down an educational institution, it observed, punishes students who have nothing to do with the allegations at hand.

The observation — that education should not suffer — captures the core of the ruling: institutional action must not come at the cost of young learners’ futures and their right to study.

What the order means

The re-opening allows the seminary to resume classes and normal academic functioning. For students and teachers, the order ends a period of uncertainty about their academic future and the continuity of their education.

The case also sets an important precedent for how courts balance security-related laws like UAPA with fundamental rights, particularly the right to education.

Legal observers note that the ruling aligns with a growing judicial emphasis on proportionality — that state action, however justified its origins, must be weighed against its impact on innocent third parties. In this case, the students’ right to uninterrupted education tipped the balance decisively in favour of re-opening, and the order directs that the institution’s functioning be restored without further delay.

Broader significance

Closures of educational institutions under stringent laws have long been contentious, with critics arguing that students become collateral damage in legal battles they did not choose.

The court’s intervention signals that the judiciary will scrutinise such closures closely — and that keeping classrooms open will weigh heavily in its decisions going forward.