Supreme Court reserves verdict on Aligarh Muslim University minority status
Satya Prakash
New Delhi, February 1
After eight days of marathon arguments, the Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) which has been in the eye of a storm since 2006 when the Allahabad High Court struck down a 1981 amendment that declared it a minority institution.
A seven-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud reserved its verdict on the contentious issue after hearing arguments from Attorney General R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Centre; and senior advocates Rajeev Dhavan, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and others for the AMU, besides some others for and against minority status of AMU.
Noting that Article 30 of the Constitution was not intended to “ghettoise the minority”, the Supreme Court on January 11 wondered if it mattered whether AMU was a minority institution or not when it has continued to be an institute of national importance without the minority tag.
If the Supreme Court finally declared AMU a minority institution, SCs, STs and OBCs will not get reservation in admission. The verdict would set a judicial precedent for a similar legal battle over the status for the Jamia Millia Islamia University, which was declared a minority institution during the UPA government in 2011.
The issue was referred to a seven-judge Constitution Bench on February 12, 2019. A similar reference was also made in 1981. The Bench – which also included Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Surya Kant, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Dipankar Datta, Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma – was examining if AMU was a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution which conferred the right to “establish and administer” educational institutions on religious and linguistic minorities.
