AMU's minority status will be decided afresh, know what CJI said?

AMU Minority Status: The Supreme Court has given its decision, regarding the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) of Uttar Pradesh. A bench of 7 judges has constituted a new committee to decide the minority status of the university. There will be three judges in this committee who will decide the direction of AMU's minority status.

Bench of 7 judges has constituted a new committee to decide the minority status of the university. There will be three judges in this committee who will decide the direction of AMU's minority status.

Supreme Court's decision on AMU's minority status

Aligarh Muslim University Minority Status verdict: The Supreme Court has announced that a separate bench of three judges will be constituted to determine whether Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) qualifies as a minority institution.

In the 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court, four judges have given the decision unanimously. At the same time, three judges have expressed dissent. CJI Chandrachud, Justice Sanjeev Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra unanimously refused to give a decision on whether AMU is a minority institution or not.

Decision comes after a verdict in which the court by a 4:3 majority overturned its 1967 verdict which said that AMU cannot claim minority status.

Debate will continue on AMU

The Allahabad High Court's decision in the case of S Aziz Basha vs Union of India, which explained how the minority status of an institution is determined. The Allahabad High Court had said in its decision in 2006 that AMU, established by royal law in 1920, is not a minority institution.

However, it has left the task of determining the minority status of AMU afresh to a three-judge bench on the basis of the arguments given in this decision.

The court has said that the three-judge committee will have to decide who established this university and what was the intention.

History of AMU

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan established Aligarh Muslim University in 1875 as 'Aligarh Muslim College'. In the year 1920, it got the status of a university, after which it was named 'Aligarh Muslim University'. In 1955, the doors of the university were also opened for non-Muslims.

 1967 verdict by the Supreme Court

Meanwhile in the landmark case of Aziz Basha vs Union of India in 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that institutions established by law cannot be considered minority institutions. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud led the majority opinion, which was supported by Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra.

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Dissenting opinion and bench composition

Not all judges agreed with this new direction. Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and SC Sharma expressed dissenting views on the matter.

Case detail

Current legal proceedings come on a petition challenging the 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court. The High Court had ruled that AMU does not qualify as a minority institution.