Is Aligarh Muslim University a minority institution? SC to rule today

A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court is scheduled to pronounce its verdict today on whether or not the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution. The Article 30 empowers religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions in India.
The bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud will pronounce the verdict on Friday, his last day in office. The bench, comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma, had reserved its verdict on the question on February 1 after hearing arguments for eight days.
On February 1, SC reserved its verdict on the issue saying that the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a “half-hearted job” and not restore to the institution the position it had prior to 1951.
While the AMU Act, 1920, speaks about incorporating a teaching and residential Muslim university in Aligarh, the 1951 amendment does away with compulsory religious instructions for the Muslim students at the university.
Without a minority status, AMU will have to implement reservation policies for both teachers and students in a similar manner as other public universities do. If the status is granted, the university can provide up to 50 per cent reservation for Muslim students.
At present, AMU doesn’t follow any reservation policies of the state. But has an internal reservation policy, where 50 per cent of seats are reserved for students who have studied in its affiliated schools and colleges.
The question has repeatedly tested Parliament’s legislative acumen and judiciary’s prowess in interpreting complex laws involving the institution founded in 1875 as Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College by prominent Muslim community members led by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. Years later, in 1920, it transformed into a university under the British Raj.
“One thing which is worrying us is that the 1981 amendment does not restore the position as it stood prior to 1951. In other words, the 1981 amendment does a half-hearted job,” Justice Chandrachud had said while proceeding to close the arguments.
This issue was decided once before by the Supreme Court. In 1967, in the case of S.Azeez Basha V Union of India, a five-judge Constitution Bench held that AMU was not a minority institution. It had referred to the AMU Act, 1920, which established the university and held that it was neither established nor administered by the Muslim community – a requirement for minority educational institutions under Article 30 (1) of the Constitution.
Earlier, the PM Narendra Modi-led NDA government refused to accept the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act and insisted that the court should go by the five-judge constitution bench verdict of 1967. The Constitution bench then held that since the AMU was a central university, it could not be considered a minority institution.
The top court had said it needed to examine the 1981 amendment and whether it restored the institution to the status it enjoyed before 1951.
The Allahabad High Court had struck down the provision of the 1981 law by which the university was accorded minority status. Appeals were filed in the apex court, including by the AMU, against the high court verdict.
The row over the AMU’s minority status has been a legal maze for the last several decades.
The top court had on February 12, 2019, referred to a seven-judge bench the contentious issue. A similar reference was also made in 1981.
The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre moved in appeal against the 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court that quashed the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act. The university also filed a separate petition against it.
The NDA government led by the BJP told the Supreme Court in 2016 that it will withdraw the appeal filed by the erstwhile UPA dispensation.
It cited the apex court’s 1967 judgement in the Basha case to claim that AMU was not a minority institution since it was a central university funded by the government.
(With PTI unputs)