On Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud’s last working day, the bench he leads is scheduled to pronounce its verdict on Friday on a vexed legal question of whether the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) enjoyed a minority status under Article 30 of the Constitution. Article 30 of the Constitution empowers the religious and linguistic minorities to establish and administer educational institutions.
A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud will pronounce the verdict. The bench also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna (next CJI), Surya Kant, JB 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.
The decision marks the final day of DY Chandrachud’s tenure, with Justice Sanjiv Khanna ready to assume the position.
If AMU, founded in 1920, loses its minority status, it will be required to implement reservation policies for both students and faculty, similar to other public universities. However, if it retains this status, the university could offer up to 50 per cent reservation for Muslim students, The Indian Express reported.
Currently, AMU does not follow state reservation policies but has an internal system reserving 50 per cent of seats for students from its affiliated schools or colleges.
The bench, which includes Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra, and SC Sharma, heard arguments on the AMU minority status case over eight days from January 10 to February 1 this year.
DY Chandrachud is set to retire on his final working day, with the case pending a decision.
In 1967, the Supreme Court in the case of S. Azeez Basha vs. Union of India ruled that AMU was not a minority institution. The Court referred to the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920, and concluded that the university was neither established nor administered by the Muslim community, which is required for institutions to be classified as minority educational establishments under Article 30(1) of the Constitution.
An amendment to the AMU Act in 1981 claimed the university was “established by the Muslims of India.” In 2005, AMU reserved 50 per cent of postgraduate medical seats for Muslim students, citing minority status.
The Allahabad High Court struck down this reservation, and the amendment, ruling AMU was not a minority institution. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court, which in 2019 referred it to a seven-judge bench to reconsider the earlier ruling in S Azeez Basha vs. Union of India.
The Centre, which withdrew from an appeal in 2016, now argues that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) never held minority status. It said that when AMU was founded in 1920 under imperial legislation, it gave up its religious status and has not been managed by the Muslim minority since.