New Delhi: A seven-judge constitution bench on Friday (November 8) in 4:3 majority verdict overruled its 1967 verdict in S Azeez Basha holding that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) cannot claim the minority status as it was created by a statute and said that the issue whether the AMU was established by a minority will be decided by a three-judge regular bench on the basis of tests laid down in this present verdict.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, reading out the judgment on behalf of four judges, held that to be a minority institution it only had to be established by the minority and not necessarily be administered by the minority members and minority institutions may wish to emphasise secular education and for that minority members are not needed in administration.
Minority status of the AMU must be decided on basis of tests laid down by it: Apex Court
The majority verdict said that the minority status of the AMU must be decided on basis of tests laid down by it in this present verdict. CJI Chandrachud said that the judicial records of this case should be placed before the CJI for setting up a fresh bench to decide the validity of a 2006 High Court verdict.
“The view in azeez basha that minority character stops when statute comes into force is overruled. Whether the AMU is a minority or not will be decided as per this judgment,” CJI Chandrachud said.
Reference before the constitution bench arose from a verdict delivered by the Allahabad High Court in 2006
The reference before the constitution bench arose from a verdict delivered by the Allahabad High Court in 2006 holding that the AMU was established through an imperial legislation in 1920 and was not a minority institution. The High Court struck down the reservation policy of the AMU and the 1981 amendment by the AMU according minority status to the AMU.
The Centre withdrew from the appeal in 2016 and had argued that AMU never possessed minority status. It said that given its national character, the AMU cannot be a minority institution.
What did apex court say in S Azeez Basha case?
The bench was reconsidering its 1967 verdict delivered in S Azeez Basha, in which the top court upheld the amendment taking away the minority status of the AMU. The top court had said in its 1967 verdict that the AMU was neither established nor administered by the Muslim minority and that the AMU Act was enacted through a central legislation and the provisions of the AMU Act clearly show that the administration of the AMU was not vested in the Muslim minority. It had further said that the AMU was not a minority institution but a central university institution of national importance.
It was on the basis of the 1967 verdict of the apex court in S Azeez Basha that the High Court had denied the minority status to the AMU.
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