Lucknow, Feb. 22 -- The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court has sought the Uttar Pradesh government's response to a public interest litigation( PIL), which alleges that there is no uniform state policy for granting aid to madrasas despite their recognition being suspended. The court directed the state counsel to obtain instructions from the state government in the matter before the next hearing. It directed that the matter be listed on March 30 for the next hearing. A division bench of chief justice Arun Bhansali and justice Jaspreet Singh passed the order on February 18 on the PIL filed by a social worker, Azaj Ahmad claiming that while grant-in-aid is paid to certain recognised suspended institutions, the same is not being paid to others. Petitioner's counsel Ashok Pandey submitted that the registrar of the Uttar Pradesh Madarsa Education Board recommended stopping grant-in-aid to such suspended madrasas, but the recommendation was not acted upon, and apparently, no decision has been taken. As per the PIL, approximately 18 state-aided madrasas are currently functioning under suspension of recognition, yet the state government continues to selectively disburse salaries and financial aid by exploiting a "statutory silence" in the UP Madrasa Education Board Act,2004 and the 2016 regulations. The petition stated that this unguided administrative discretion violates the equality clause enshrined under Article 14 of the Constitution, which strictly prohibits arbitrary state action and mandates equal treatment for all similarly situated entities. The PIL also asserted that state grant-in-aid does not constitute a vested right, but rather is a conditional form of financial assistance, fundamentally dependent upon the continued existence of valid recognition and continuous compliance with prescribed statutory norms.MANOJ KUMAR SINGH...