AMU Of 'National Importance' Says Centre As SC Observes Govt Statute Not A Bar On Minority Status

While the Centre said Aligarh Muslim University can't be a minority institution due to its "national character", CJI Chandrachud observed a government statute was not a bar on minority status.

While the Centre said Aligarh Muslim University can't be a minority institution due to its "national character", CJI Chandrachud observed a government statute was not a bar on minority status.

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Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) cannot be a minority institution due to its "national character", the Centre on Tuesday said in a written submission to the Supreme Court, which began hearing the pleas challenging the scrapping of the minority status of AMU. While hearing the petitioners, CJI DY Chandrachud observed that just because an institution is being regulated by a Central statute does not deprive it of minority status, the IANS reported.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta will begin his arguement before the seven-judge constitutional bench on Wednesday. Mehta has filed a written submission on behalf of the Centre in which he has said the university has always been an institution of national importance, even in the pre-independence era. The university was founded in 1875, the PTI reported.

"Therefore, as per the submission of the Union of India, the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is an institution of a national character. A survey of the documents surrounding the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University and even the then-existing legislative position enunciates that the AMU was always an institution having a national character," the PTI report quoted the document.

The document referred to debates in the Constituent Assembly, to highlight the national importance and character of the university.

"It is submitted that owing to the obviously secular ethos and nature of the nation and the Constitution, considering the fact that AMU is an institution of educational 'national character' it cannot be considered to be a minority institution irrespective of the question whether it was established and administered by the minority at the time of inception or not," The PTI report quoted Mehta's submission.

Mehta further added that AMU is not a university dominantly functioning as a Muslim university as it is not established and administered by the minority.

"Aligarh Muslim University is not and cannot be a University of any particular religion or religious denomination as any University which is declared by the Constitution of India to be of national importance should, by definition, cannot be a minority institution," Mehta said in his written submissions.

The CJI-led constitutional bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, JB Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra, and SC Sharma were hearing petitions filed against the scrapping of minority status for Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

According to the IANS report, while hearing senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan who is representing the petitioners, the CJI orally observed that "the State in public interest is entitled to regulate administration to ensure that conditions of service of teachers are fair, the staff of the institution is not maltreated or deprived of basic condition of service, minimum requirement for conferment of degrees, standards of examination, standards of syllabus or curriculum."

He further added that administrative requirements imposed by the state do not change the minority character of an institution.

"There are a variety of administration requirements which the state can impose. That does not detract from the (minority character of the institution). That applies across the board, irrespective of whether it is a minority or non-minority institution." The IANS report quoted the CJI.

The CJI further explained that Article 30 – which deals with the right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions – uses the expression “establish and administer” and to make Article 30 effective, "we do not have to postulate the administration by absolute minority".

"Today, in a regulated state, nothing is absolute. Merely because the right to administer is regulated by a statute, does not detract the minority character of the institution,” The report quoted the CJI.

The CJI also said that currently, there is no constitutional definition of the term “administer” noting that the AMU does not have to solely administer religious courses or should offer admissions to any particular community.

The Constitution Bench will hear the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre on Wednesday.  

The top court is examining the validity of the 1967 verdict (Azeez Basha judgment) by a five-judge SC bench that took away the minority status of AMU. In 1967, the apex court scrapped AMU's minority status stating that it was neither established nor administered by Muslim minority. Article 30(1) of the Constitution gives linguistic and religious minorities a fundamental right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. These rights are protected by a prohibition against their violation under Article 13.

In 1981, a divisional bench of the top court questioned the validity of the Azeez Basha judgment that scraped AMU's minority status and referred the matter to a seven-judge bench. The matter had been pending for nearly 43 years.