AMU Minority Status Case: When the Supreme Court on Tuesday (9 January) started hearing on the highly controversial question of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, the Central Government said that considering the national character, AMU cannot be a minority institution.
According to news agency PTI, the Center told the court that AMU is not and cannot be a university of any particular religion or religious sect because any university which has been declared an institution of national importance cannot be a minority institution.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, in his written argument filed before the Supreme Court, said that the university has always been an institution of national importance, even before independence.
Supreme Court said this on minority status of MMU
While hearing this complex issue, the Supreme Court said that merely because an educational institution is regulated by any law, its status as a minority institution does not end. A seven-judge Constitution bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud referred to Article 30 of the Constitution which deals with the rights of minorities to establish and operate educational institutions.
The top court said that to make Article 30 effective, there is no need for independent administration for any minority group to claim such status.
How old is the university?
The university was established in 1875. On February 12, 2019, the apex court had referred the contentious issue of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University to a bench of seven judges. A similar case was referred in 1981 also. The issue of minority status of the institute has been mired in legal dispute for several decades.
(with language input)
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