The Supreme Court on Friday (8 November 2024) gave a 4:3 majority verdict on the matter related to the restoration of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). A 7-judge bench of CJI DY Chandrachud made important remarks regarding the minority status of AMU.
While reading out the verdict, the Supreme Court said that we have to decide how an institution can be given the status of a minority institution. Linguistic, cultural or religious minorities can create institutions for themselves under Article 30, but they are not completely separate from government rules.
SC said this in its decision
“Whether an educational institution was established before or after the Constitution came into force, its status would not change that. There is a difference between establishing an institution and becoming part of the government machinery. But the purpose of Article 30(1) is that an institution established by minorities should be run by them,” the Supreme Court said in its judgment.
SC said in its decision, “The court will have to see who arranged for the funds and land at the time of formation of the institution. We are overruling the Aziz Basha decision, but a bench of 3 judges will decide on the status of AMU later.” Let us tell you that in the case of Aziz Basha vs Union of India, the Supreme Court had ruled that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is not a minority institution.
The decision was reserved in the last hearing
In the last hearing on the AMU case, the central government had argued that it is not right to keep AMU in the minority category. The bench had reserved its decision in the last hearing. The case was heard by a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna nominated for CJI along with Justice Manoj Mishra, JB Pardiwala, Justice Dipankar Dutta, Justice Suryakant and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
