ISLAMABAD, Aug 29: The Supreme Court on Monday issued its detailed verdict on the issue of madressah sanads and said these could not be considered equivalent to matriculation certificates unless an equivalence certificate was obtained from the Inter-Board Committee of Chairman (IBCC).

The verdict noted that madressahs in the country were being run or managed by the private sector without any statutory sanction, having no affiliation with any university or the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education.

On Aug 16, a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, in its short order had laid down the criteria for the acceptance of madressahs sanads for the the local government elections.