New Delhi (TIP)- A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court overruled its 1967 decision in S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India which held that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is not a minority institution. Though the final determination on whether AMU is a minority institution was left for a separate Bench to answer, the majority verdict laid down a test for determining whether an educational institution can claim minority status under Article 30(1) of the Constitution.
The majority verdict, authored by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, held that the word “established” in Article 30(1) must be given a broad meaning and that the court will have to look into the details of who was the “brain” behind the establishment of an institution (to see whether that person was a member of the minority community) see what was the purpose of the establishment and what were the steps taken to implement this purpose (such as seeing how the land was obtained and who provided the funding).
It further held that the court cannot rely on the language of the Act to determine who established the university — such as the AMU Act which states that the university was incorporated and established under the Act itself. This would make Article 30(1) — a fundamental right — subservient to a statutory enactment, the majority held.
Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and S C Sharma authored dissenting opinions.
The 7-judge Bench was hearing a plea on a reference that arose from a 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which held that the AMU, established through an imperial legislation in 1920, was not a minority institution.
Without minority status, AMU will have to begin implementing reservation policies for both teachers and students in a similar manner as other public universities. If this status is granted, the university can provide up to 50% reservation for Muslim students. Currently, AMU does not follow any reservation policies of the state. However, it does have an internal reservation policy, where 50% of seats are reserved for students who have studied in its affiliated schools or colleges.
The Bench, which also included Justices Sanjiv Khanna (the incoming CJI), Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and S C Sharma, heard arguments over the course of eight days between January 10 and February 1 this year.
This issue was decided once before by the Supreme Court. In 1967, in the case of S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India, a five-judge Constitution Bench held that AMU was not a minority institution. It referred to the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920, which established the university and held that AMU was neither established nor administered by the Muslim community — a requirement for minority educational institutions under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution.
An amendment to the AMU Act in 1981 stated that the university had been “established by the Muslims of India”. In 2005, the university, claiming minority status, reserved 50% of seats in postgraduate medical courses for Muslim students.
The Allahabad High Court struck down the reservation policy and the 1981 amendment, holding that AMU was not a minority institution. This verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court, and in 2019 the case was referred to a seven-judge bench to decide if the verdict in S. Azeez Basha v. Union of India required reconsideration.
The Centre, which withdrew from the appeal in 2016 and is now arguing against AMU’s minority status, stated that AMU never had the tag. It said that when AMU was established in 1920 under an imperial legislation, it relinquished its religious status and has not been administered by the Muslim minority ever since. Source: The Indian Express
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