The nearly hundred year old Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is fighting a court battle over its minority status.
The Supreme Court has raised questions on its claim of being a minority institution. On Wednesday, a seven-member Constitution bench said that when there are only 37 Muslims in the 180-member Governing Council of the university, then how can this university be a minority institution.
The division bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjeev Khanna, Justice Surya Kant, Justice JB Pardiwala, Justice Dipankar Dutta, Justice Manoj Mishra and Justice Satish Sharma has asked the university administration to prove the status of a minority institution.
Senior advocate Rajiv Dhawan argued the case on behalf of the university.
During this, the bench drew Rajeev Dhavan’s attention to the structure of the Governing Council of AMU, which is called the ‘court of the University’ under the AMU Act, and asked whether its anti-Muslim nature would have any impact on the minority educational institution (MEI) of the university. Can weaken the claim of existence?
In response, Dhavan said that under Article 30(1) of the Constitution, all religious and linguistic minority communities have the right to “establish and administer educational institutions of their choice”.
He said that the Muslims came together and established the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental (MAO) College in 1875, which was later transformed into Aligarh Muslim University in 1920.
After this, as soon as the discussion started on the patronage of the university, the CJI asked whether according to the law, it is necessary for 37 of the 180 members to be Muslims.
He asked, “Can this have any impact on the fact that any minority institution should be run by the minority community only? If administration is involved under Article 30, is just 37 Muslim members out of 180 enough for a minority institution? “Does it meet the qualifications to qualify as a minority institution?”
In response, Dhavan said that since the institution was established by the minority community and its objective was to cater to the needs of the minority community, it was not necessary that its administration should be 100% by the minority community in order to maintain the status of a minority institution. There is a need to control only.
Dhawan also argued and said, “Since the inception of AMU, all its vice-chancellors have been Muslims. Therefore, it would actually be said to be administered by the minority community.
Other features of AMU are also Islamic in nature. Just because there is government interference in administration, the minority character of the university cannot be dismissed. Especially the institution which was established by Muslims for the educational upliftment of Muslims.”
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the central government, said that AMU is not a university of any particular religion or religious sect nor can it be because any university which has been declared an institution of national importance cannot be a minority institution. Is.
Let us tell you that the Central Government has rejected the minority status of the university, whereas the UPA government of Manmohan Singh had given this status.
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