New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday, by a 4-3 majority, set aside its 1967 judgment in the Aziz Basha case, which served as the basis for denying minority status to Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). It directed that the minority status of AMU will be determined afresh in accordance with the principles developed in the existing judgment. Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjay Y Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra said, “The Aziz Basha case The decision given in is rejected. The minority status of AMU should be decided on the basis of the test prescribed in the present case.” The court said in majority, “The decision given in Aziz Basha case is rejected.
The minority status of AMU should be decided on the basis of the tests laid down in the present case. Papers should be presented before the Chief Justice to constitute a bench to decide on this issue and to verify the authenticity of the 2006 judgment of the Allahabad High Court.” 'The minority institution should be established by the minority itself,' the court said. Set out the legal principles relating to the determination of the minority status of an institution, but refrained from giving a factual judgment on the issue. Reading out the majority decision, the Chief Justice said that the minority institution should be established and administered by the minority only. He said that before the Constitution, minority institutions would get equal protection under Article 30 (1). Justice Chandrachud also said that the minority status of an institution cannot be decided merely because it has been established through a parliamentary law. .
The court said that in such a case, other factors related to its establishment and other aspects should also be kept in mind. Sending the case to a seven-judge bench was wrong. Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Dutta and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma dissented and said that in 1981 It was wrong in law for a two-judge bench to send a case to a seven-judge bench, because a two-judge bench cannot send a case to a Constitution bench without first sending it to a three-judge bench. If AMU is declared a minority institution, If granted, there will be no need to reserve seats for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). Senior lawyers Rajeev Dhawan, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and MR Shamshad said. Arguments were presented on behalf of AMU and other petitioners, demanding reconsideration of the Aziz Basha decision.
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