Aligarh Muslim University Campus. |Photo credit: SANDEEP SAXENA
The Supreme Court overturned the 1967 judgment and held that since AMU was a central university, it could not be considered a minority institution.
A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Friday (November 8, 2024) delivered four separate judgments in the Aligarh Muslim University minority status case. There were three different verdicts. The CJI wrote the majority judgment for himself and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra.
Justices Chandrachud said that Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma each delivered different verdicts.
In January 2006, the Allahabad High Court struck down the provisions of the 1981 law that gave AMU minority status.
Also read: What is the legal controversy surrounding AMU’s minority status? |Explanation
On February 1, addressing the thorny issue of minority status of AMU, the Supreme Court said that the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act actually conferred minority status to AMU, but it was only “half-hearted” and did not restore the minority status of AMU. status prior to 1951.
Earlier, the BJP-led NDA government had refused to accept the amendment to the AMU Act, 1981 and insisted that the court should follow the five-judge Constitution Bench decision in the 1967 Aziz Basha v. Union of India case. It was then argued that since AMU is a central university it cannot be considered a minority institution.
In 2005, the university reserved 50% of seats in postgraduate medical courses for Muslim students. This led AMU and the Union government to appeal the Supreme Court ruling in 2006. AMU and other associations affiliated with the university continue to respond to challenges.
Those who have argued in favor of the institution’s minority status, including senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, argue that the fact that only 37 of the 180 members of the governing council are Muslims does not detract from its status as a Muslim minority institution. qualifications.
Others, like Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, argued that universities that receive huge funds from the Center and are declared institutions of national importance cannot claim to belong to a particular religious denomination.
Also read: Government backs verdict denying AMU minority status
They also believe that once Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College converted into a university after the 1951 amendment to the AMU Act and started receiving funding from the central government, the institution abandoned its minority character.
A lawyer disapproving of AMU’s minority status even claimed that AMU received over Rs 5,000 crore from the central government between 2019 and 2023, almost twice as much as Delhi University, a central university.
The debate over AMU’s minority status has been mired in legal limbo over the past few decades.
(Inputs from PTI)
Published – November 8, 2024 11:26 AM (IST)
