The Supreme Court, on Friday, deferred the decision regarding Aligarh Muslim University’s (AMU) minority status to a new bench and overturned the 1967 judgment that stated AMU could not be considered a minority institution due to its creation by a central law. In a majority ruling led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the court laid out new criteria to assess AMU’s minority status. The 1967 verdict in the S Azeez Basha case was overruled, with the court stating that AMU’s status must now be determined based on the new principles laid down in this judgment.

The court also ordered the records of the case to be placed before a regular bench, which will also review appeals against a 2006 Allahabad High Court ruling that had invalidated the minority status granted to AMU under the 1981 AMU (Amendment) Act.

The bench noted there were four separate opinions on the matter, with three dissenting views. In a dissent, Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Datta raised concerns about the implications of referring the case to a larger bench, while Justice Satish Chandra Sharma emphasized that for a minority to claim the right to establish and administer educational institutions, the institution must be founded by that minority.

The issue of AMU’s minority status has been legally complicated for decades. Initially granted minority status by the 1981 amendment, AMU’s minority status was challenged by the Allahabad High Court in 2006. Despite that, AMU continued to maintain its minority status through legislation. The current government had previously cited the 1967 judgment to argue that AMU, as a central university funded by the government, could not be considered a minority institution.

Source: PTI

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