New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday (January 9) argued earlier than the Supreme Court that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) isn’t a minority establishment because it has a “national character”, in a brand new listening to of a case that goes again to 75 years in the past. The case entails two authorized questions: whether or not an academic establishment can get minority standing underneath Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, and whether or not a central college created by a parliamentary regulation might be referred to as a minority establishment. The Supreme Court (SC) has lately noticed that the minority standing of an academic establishment isn’t affected by the truth that its administration is ruled by a statute.
A seven-judge bench is listening to the case of AMU to resolve whether or not the college is a minority establishment. The bench consists of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma. In 1967, the Supreme Court held that AMU was not a minority establishment, and now the Government of India has challenged the college’s minority standing within the Apex courtroom.
“Aligarh Muslim University is not and cannot be a university of any specific religion or religious group, as any university declared by the Constitution of India to be of national importance cannot be, by definition, a minority institution,” stated Solicitor General Tushar Mehta in his written submissions to the Supreme Court of India. According to a PTI report, the Solicitor General of India contended in courtroom that the college has been an establishment of nationwide significance.
Supreme Court’s Views In Ongoing AMU Case
The Supreme Court, within the ongoing AMU case, emphasises that an establishment doesn’t lose its minority standing by being regulated by a statute. Article 30 of the Constitution is defined to not require the minority neighborhood to have unique management over the administration for retaining minority standing. The courtroom recognises {that a} minority establishment can have a secular administration and isn’t restricted to providing solely non secular programs. It can admit college students from numerous communities.
A key query earlier than the Constitution Bench is whether or not an establishment might be thought-about a minority academic establishment as a result of it was “established by an individual(s) belonging to a spiritual or linguistic minority. The minority character of an academic establishment isn’t compromised by the presence of some office-bearers from the bulk neighborhood in some administrative wings.
Background Of Aligarh Muslim University
AMU is thought to be a minority academic establishment in India, based in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan because the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, later changing into Aligarh Muslim University in 1920. The college aimed to enhance the training of Muslims in India.
In August 1920, the AMU Act was handed, declaring the establishment a minority establishment. Speaking on the AMU Bill within the Central Legislative Council, the then training member, Sir Mohammed Shafi, expressed the federal government’s intention to supply vital monetary help to the proposed college.
However, the minority standing of the college was weakened in 1951 and 1965 when the central authorities handed amendments, altering the governing construction and giving powers to the President of India to appoint members. In 1981, a regulation was handed to revive the minority standing. In 2005, the Allahabad High Court dominated in opposition to the minority standing, resulting in a Supreme Court referral in 2019 to a seven-judge bench.
