In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court on Friday, by a 4:3 majority, overruled its 1967 decision in the S. Azeez Basha vs. Union of India case.
This earlier verdict had concluded that since the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was a Central university, it could not be recognized as a minority institution. The current decision shifts the matter to a regular three-judge bench for determination.
The majority opinion, authored by Chief Justice of India and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, J.D. Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, stressed that the pivotal question in evaluating an institution's minority status is its founding entity. The court asserted that administration by non-minority members does not negate an institution's minority character.
Furthermore, it held that while the government can regulate minority educational institutions, such regulation should not infringe upon their minority identity.
In contrast, Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Satish Chandra Sharma issued a dissenting opinion.
The Supreme Court’s decision arose from a reference related to the 2006 judgment by the Allahabad High Court, which invalidated AMU’s minority status. This status had been restored when Parliament passed the AMU (Amendment) Act in 1981. However, in 2006, the Allahabad High Court struck down this provision, prompting the Congress-led UPA government to appeal to the Supreme Court. AMU also filed a separate petition.
Notably, in 2016, the BJP-led NDA government announced its intention to withdraw the UPA’s appeal. Subsequently, in February 2019, the matter was referred to a seven-judge bench.
During the hearings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, argued that minority rights did not exist in 1920 when the AMU Act was established. The government contended that granting minority status to an institution of national importance could limit access for various societal segments and exclude reservations for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).
