New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday (January 9) argued earlier than the Supreme Court docket that Aligarh Muslim College (AMU) will not be a minority establishment because it has a “nationwide 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 below Article 30 of the Indian Structure, and whether or not a central college created by a parliamentary legislation might be referred to as a minority establishment. The Supreme Court docket (SC) has just lately noticed that the minority standing of an academic establishment will not be affected by the truth that its administration is ruled by a statute.
A seven-judge bench is listening to the case of AMU to determine 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 docket held that AMU was not a minority establishment, and now the Authorities of India has challenged the college’s minority standing within the Apex court docket.
“Aligarh Muslim College will not be and can’t be a college of any particular faith or non secular group, as any college declared by the Structure of India to be of nationwide significance can’t be, by definition, a minority establishment,” stated Solicitor Normal Tushar Mehta in his written submissions to the Supreme Court docket of India. In keeping with a PTI report, the Solicitor Normal of India contended in court docket that the college has been an establishment of nationwide significance.
Supreme Court docket’s Views In Ongoing AMU Case
The Supreme Court docket, 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 Structure is defined to not require the minority group to have unique management over the administration for retaining minority standing. The court docket recognises {that a} minority establishment can have a secular administration and isn’t restricted to providing solely non secular programs. It could actually admit college students from numerous communities.
A key query earlier than the Structure 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 will not be compromised by the presence of some office-bearers from the bulk group in some administrative wings.
Background Of Aligarh Muslim College
AMU is thought to be a minority academic establishment in India, based in 1875 by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan because the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental School, later changing into Aligarh Muslim College 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. Talking on the AMU Invoice within the Central Legislative Council, the then training member, Sir Mohammed Shafi, expressed the federal government’s intention to offer vital monetary help to the proposed college.
Nonetheless, 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 legislation was handed to revive the minority standing. In 2005, the Allahabad Excessive Court docket dominated in opposition to the minority standing, resulting in a Supreme Court docket referral in 2019 to a seven-judge bench.
