Since AMU is central university, it cannot be considered minority institution: Supreme Court

Supreme Court overrules 1967 verdict on AMU minority status, delivering multiple judgements with dissenting opinions.

Supreme Court overrules 1967 verdict holding that since AMU was central university it cannot be considered minority institution.

A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court on Friday (November 8, 2024) delivered four separate judgements in the Aligarh Muslim University minority status case. There are three dissenting verdicts. CJI writes majority verdict for himself and Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala, Manoj Misra.

Justice Chandrachud said Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma have penned their separate dissenting verdicts.

In January 2006, Allahabad HC struck down provision of 1981 law by which AMU was accorded minority status.

Also read: What is the legal dispute over AMU’s minority status? | Explained

On February 1, grappling with the intractable issue of the AMU’s minority status, the top court said the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which effectively accorded it a minority status, only did a “half-hearted job” and did not restore to the institution the position it had prior to 1951.

Earlier, the BJP-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 in the S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case in 1967. The Constitution bench had then held that since the AMU was a central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution.