A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in a 4:3 majority ruling, overruled the Allahabad High Court’s decision of 1967. In S. Azeez Basha vs. Union Of India, the HC held that an institution incorporated by a statute cannot claim to be a minority institution.
Overturning this ruling, the bench, headed by CJI DY Chandrachud, on his last working day, left the issue of whether Aligarh Muslim University is a minority institution to be decided by a regular bench based on this view of the majority, Live Law reported.
The bench was hearing a plea on a reference that arose from a 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which held that AMU, established through an imperial legislation in 1920, was not a minority institution.
Reading out the judgment, the CJI said that the majority verdict was by him and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma dissented. The bench heard the matter 8 days before reserving it on February 1.
The Supreme Court held that an institution will not lose its minority status merely because it was created by a statute. The majority held that the Court must examine who established the University and who was the “brain” behind it. If that enquiry is pointing towards minority community, then the institution can claim minority status as per Article 30. For this factual determination, the Constitution Bench relegated the matter to a regular bench, Live Law reported.
What is the issue?
This issue, which is over half a century old, was once decided before the Supreme Court when a five-judge Constitution Bench held that AMU was not a minority institution. The court, in 1967, had 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.
The Act was amended in 1981 to state that the university had been “established by the Muslims of India”. In 2005, the university reserved 50% of seats in postgraduate medical courses for Muslim students.
As such, the Allahabad High Court had struck down the reservation policy and the 1981 amendment after which, the verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court.
Now, the matter will be heard by a regular bench to determine whether Aligarh Muslim University should get the minority tag.