November 8, 2024 - A seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud today overruled a 1967 Constitution Bench decision which held that a minority community cannot claim to have established an educational institution if it was created by a statute. The Court was hearing a petition to restore minority status to the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

The verdict was delivered in a majority judgment of 4:3 ratio with CJI Chandrachud saying there were four separate opinions, including three dissenting verdicts.

SC overruled the 1967 Basha judgment which said an educational institution can claim 'minority tag' only if established and managed by a minority community. SC, however, refrained from deciding whether AMU is a minority institution and said the issue was to be decided by a regular three-judge Bench, based on the principles evolved in this judgment.

In 1967, a five-judge Constitution Bench had in the S Azeez Basha v. Union of India case ruled that AMU could not be classified as a minority institution because it was a central university. AMU, originally founded in 1875, became a central university in 1920.

In 1981 an amendment was made to the AMU Act, which granted it minority status but this was seen as incomplete. The 1981 amendment was previously rejected by the BJP-led NDA government, which insisted that the court follow the 1967 ruling.

"One thing which is worrying us is that the 1981 amendment (to the AMU Act) 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 said.

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.

Following the verdict, Aligarh Muslim University staff welcomed the decision and expressed the need to act on the further course of action.

The decision will resolve decades of legal challenges regarding AMU's Constitutional status. Article 30 of the Indian Constitution grants religious and linguistic minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions.

With media inputs