SC Overrules 1967 Verdict, Sets Criteria For AMU’s Minority Status

The Supreme Court has ruled that the status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as a minority institution should be decided based on specific criteria set by the Court. The majority verdict overrules a 1967 decision that had denied AMU minority status, stating that as a central university, it could not be considered a minority institution.

Article 30 of the Indian Constitution empowers religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.

The institution was founded in 1875 as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College by prominent Muslim community members led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Years later in 1920, it transformed into a university under the British Raj.

A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud will pronounce the verdict. The bench had reserved its decision on February 1 after hearing arguments for eight days .

On February 1, the top court said the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a "half-hearted job" and did not restore to the institution the position it had before 1951.

The AMU Act, 1920, established the university as a teaching and residential Muslim university in Aligarh. However, the 1951 amendment removed compulsory religious instructions for Muslim students.

"One thing which is worrying us is that the 1981 amendment does not restore the position as it stood prior to 1951. In other words, the 1981 amendment does a half-hearted job," Justice Chandrachud had said while proceeding to close the arguments.

"I can understand if the 1981 amendment had said... okay, we are going back to the original 1920 statute, confer complete minority character on this (institution)," the CJI had said.

Those who put forward the view favouring a minority status for the institution, including veteran lawyer Kapil Sibal, contended that the mere fact that only 37 of the 180-member governing council is Muslim does not detract from its credentials as a Muslim minority institution.

Others like Solicitor General Tushar Mehta contended a university getting enormous funds from the Centre and having been declared an institution of national importance cannot claim to belong to a particular religious denomination.

Notably, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre filed an appeal against the Allahabad High Court's 2006 decision that overturned the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act. The institution also filed a separate petition against it.

The NDA government, led by the BJP, told the Supreme Court in 2016 that it will drop the appeal brought by the previous UPA government. It referenced the Supreme Court's 1967 decision in the Basha case to argue that AMU was not a minority  institution since it was a central university funded by the government.

(With agency inputs)