Minority status not lost if institution created by statute: SC gives split 4:3 verdict on pleas concerning AMU

The Supreme Court of India has held that the ‘minority’ tag can’t be taken away from an institution that was created by a statute. Notably, the 7-judge bench held the same while hearing pleas related to the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). By a thin majority of 4:3, the bench overruled the 1967 judgment in S. Azeez Basha vs. Union Of India which had held that an institution incorporated by a statute cannot claim to be a minority institution.

The issue of whether the AMU is a minority institution as per Article 30 of the Indian Constitution will now be decided by a regular bench of the court based on the majority verdict pronounced today.

In the Azeez Basha case, the apex court had ruled that AMU cannot claim minority status as it was established under a law.

However, the majority led by the CJI overruled the earlier judgment and held that an institution would not lose its minority status merely because it was created by a law.

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They held that the court must examine who was the “brain” behind the university. If that inquiry is pointing towards a minority community, then the institution can claim minority status as per Article 30.

For this factual determination, the Constitution Bench relegated the matter to a regular bench.

“The view taken in Azeez Basha that an educational institution is not established by a minority if it derives its legal character through a statute is overruled,” the majority stated.

CJI Chandrachud, on his last working day, pronounced the judgment on behalf of the majority (comprising himself, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra). Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and SC Sharma dissented.

The Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra, and SC Sharma was hearing a reference arising out of the 2006 verdict of the Allahabad High Court which held that AMU was not a minority institution.