SC overrules 1967 judgement, regular bench to decide AMU’s minority tag

The Supreme Court on Friday overruled by 4:3 majority the 1967 judgement which held that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) can’t claim minority status as it was created by a statute.
The Court, however, said that in order to determine whether or not an institution is a minority institution should be on the basis of who established (community) it. A final decision is this regard will be taken up by a regular bench, not yet constituted, based on this view of the majority, the court ruled.
The case was heard by a seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud on his last day in office. The matter pertained to whether or not AMU is a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution.
Article 30 empowers religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions in India.
“The decision in Azeez Basha is overruled, the question on deciding the minority status of AMU must be done on the basis of the tests laid down in the present case, papers to be placed before the CJI for constituting a bench to decide the issue and correctness of 2006 Allahabad HC judgement,” the CJI said according to legal news website Bar and Bench.
In 1967, in the case of S Azeez Basha V Union of India, a 5-judge Constitution Bench of the SC  held that AMU was not a minority institution. It referred to the AMU Act, 1920, which established the university and held that it was neither established nor administered by the Muslim community – a requirement for minority educational institutions under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution.
In 2006, a verdict of the Allahabad High Court held that AMU – a central university – established through an imperial legislation in 1920, was not a minority institution.
CJI DY Chandrachud wrote the majority judgment. Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma dissented.
The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma, had reserved its verdict on the question on February 1 after hearing arguments for eight days.
Established as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College by prominent members of the Muslim community led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in 1875, the institution was converted to a university under the British Raj in 1920.
While the AMU Act, 1920, speaks about incorporating a teaching and residential Muslim university in Aligarh, the 1951 amendment does away with compulsory religious instructions for the Muslim students at the university.