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Informist, Friday, Nov. 8, 2024

 

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--SC rejects its 1967 order in Aligarh Muslim University case
--CONTEXT: SC in 1967 ruled against minority status to university
--CONTEXT: SC's 1967 order said Aligarh university created by statute 
--SC: Institution must satisfy 'test of minority' when Constitution enacted 
--SC lays down criteria to decide an institute's status as 'minority' 
--SC says Aligarh University case to be decided based on its criteria 
--SC:Minority status not because institution was created by statute 
--SC: Regular bench to decide on Aligarh University's minority status
 

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court Friday, while hearing petitions seeking minority status to Aligarh Muslim University, rejected its 1967 verdict which held that an institution incorporated by a statute cannot claim to be a minority institution. The top court said an institution will not lose its minority status in the Constitution merely because it was created by a statute.

 

Further, the court laid down tests to determine whether Aligarh Muslim University can claim minority status or not, which will be decided by another Bench. "Papers to be placed before the Chief Justice of India for constituting a bench to decide the issue and correctness of 2006 Allahabad High Court judgement (which had ruled that Aligarh Muslim University was not a minority institute)," said the court.

 

Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud-led Bench, in a 4:3 majority judgement, laid down certain criteria for deciding an institute's minority status. The Bench said that courts have to consider the genesis of the institute and determine who was the brain behind its establishment. It needs to trace who got funds for the land and if a minority community was involved in its establishment, it said. The courts also have to note the purpose of the establishment and the steps taken to implement this purpose, such as seeing how the land was obtained and who provided the funding, the Bench said.

 

The valid proof of ideation of a minority community to establish the institution can be done from letters of communication and other materials, said the court. An institution must satisfy the test of minority institutions on the date the Constitution came into being, it added. Office documents, memoranda, secondary sources can be used to prove the minority status, the court said.

 

"We have held that to be a minority institution it only had to be established by the minority and not necessarily be administered by the minority members. Minority institutions may wish to emphasise secular education and for that minority members are not needed in administration," said the court. "The view in S. Azeez Basha (1967 order) that minority character stops when a statute comes into force is overruled. Whether Aligarh Muslim University is a minority (institute) or not will be decided as per this judgment." 

 

The Bench said that courts cannot rely on the language of the Act to determine who established the university, such as the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920, which states that the university was incorporated and established under the Act itself. This would make Article 30(1) of the Indian Constitution, a fundamental right, subservient to a statutory enactment, it said.

 

The majority judgement said an educational institution will not cease to have a minority status merely because the government regulates it by bringing in a law. The government can regulate minority educational institutions as long as it does not infringe on the minority character of such institutes, the verdict said. "An educational institution established by any citizen can be regulated under Article 19(6). This court has maintained that right (of minorities) under Article 30 is not absolute. Regulation of minority educational institutions is permitted under Article 19(6) provided it does not infringe the minority character of the institute," the Court stated.

 

Further, the top court said that Article 30 of the Constitution applies even to institutions established by minorities before the Constitution came into force. Article 30 confers a fundamental right on minorities to establish and administer educational institutions. "Article 30 shall stand diluted if it applies to only institutes those which have been established after the Constitution came into force. Thus, educational institutions established by minority which were established before the Constitution came into force, will also be governed by Article 30," said the court.

 

Chief Justice Chandrachud, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra were in favour of the judgment. Justices Satish Chandra Sharma, Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta dissented to the verdict. 

 

The minority opinion said that an institution can claim minority status only if it is established and administered by a minority. "Educational institutions include universities as well. For the minority tag, it must satisfy both the establishment and administer aspects of Article 30," said the minority judgement. They added that Aligarh Muslim University was not a minority institution and cannot come under Article 30.

 

If the minority status is given to Aligarh Muslim University, it will be exempted from reserving seats for other backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Without minority status, the university has to begin implementing the reservation policies for both students and teachers in a similar manner as any public university. 

 

Further, the minority status could ensure up to 50% reservation for Muslim students. Currently, the university does not follow any reservation policy. However, it has an internal policy in which 50% of seats are reserved for students who have studied in its affiliated schools or colleges. 

 

In 1967, a five-judge Constitution Bench had ruled that the university was not a minority institution. The court had said that the university was neither established nor administered by the Muslim minority. The university came into existence through an Act of the central legislature, which was Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920, the court had said.

 

After facing backlash over the ruling, the government amended the Act in 1981 and stated that the university was established by the Muslim community to promote cultural and educational advancement of Muslims in India. In 2005, the university provided 50% reservation for Muslim students in postgraduate medical programs. However, in 2006, the Allahabad High Court struck the university's order to give 50% reservation and the 1981 amendments made by the government. The issue moved to the apex court and in 2019 was referred to a seven-judge Constitution Bench. 

 

The Centre has argued that the university is not a minority institution and if it was declared one, then "it will continue not to provide for reservations for SCs, STs, OBCs, EWS (in jobs and seats), but it will provide for 50% reservation for Muslims which can be up to 50% or even more". The Centre said that the administrative structure of the university will also be changed thereafter. A large national institute like Aligarh Muslim University ought to maintain its secular origins and serve the larger interest of the nation first, said the Centre.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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