New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday delivered a landmark verdict the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is entitled to minority status under Article 30 of the Constitution of India.
The Top Court overruled by 4:3 majority the S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case which in 1967 held that since the Aligarh Muslim Univeristy was a Central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution.
Majority Verdict
The majority verdict said the issue of AMU minority status to be decided by a regular three-judge bench.
The bench said that in order to determine whether an institution is a minority institution, what needs to be looked at is who established the institution.
The minority status of Aligarh Muslim University will continue: Supreme Court verdict#SupremeCourt #AligarhMuslimUniversity #AmulBabyKTR pic.twitter.com/kzq8jKw1Ww
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This administration by non-minority members will not take away the minority character of an institution, the apex court verdict said. It further held that the government can regulate minority educational institutions as long as it does not infringe the minority character of such institute.
The CJI wrote the majority opinion for himself and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JD Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma gave dissent verdict.
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Allahabad HC verdict
The Apex Court verdict came on a reference arising out of the 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which held that AMU was not a minority institution.
A five-judge Constitution bench had in the S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case in 1967 held that since AMU was a Central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution.
AMU (Amendment) Act
The university got back its minority status when Parliament passed the AMU (Amendment) Act in 1981.
However, in January 2006, the Allahabad High Court struck down the provision of the 1981 law by which the university was accorded the minority status. (with Agency inputs)
