Aligarh Muslim University entitled to minority status, rules Supreme Court; overrules its 1967 verdict
The apex court held that an institution would not lose its minority status merely because it was created by a statute.
PTC News Desk: In a significant verdict, Supreme Court has ruled that Aligarh Muslim University is entitled to minority status while overruling its 1967 verdict claiming that being a Central University, it cannot be referred to as minority institution.
Supreme Court overrules by 4:3 S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case which in 1967 held that since Aligarh Muslim University was a Central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution. The apex court held that an institution would not lose its minority status merely because it was created by a statute. The verdict came on the plea following Allahabad High court's order that held that AMU was not a minority institution.
The order was pronounced by Chief Justice of India on his last working day and said that AMU was a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution, which empowers religious and linguistic minorities to establish as well as administer educational institutions. Without minority status, AMU would have had to offer reservation to students as well as teachers in line with other public universities.
The bench also included justices Sanjiv Khanna, who will take over as the CJI from Chandrachud, Manoj Misra, Surya Kant, Satish Chandra Sharma, Dipankar Datta and JB Pardiwala.