In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court has ruled by a 4-3 majority that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is entitled to minority status under Article 30 of the Indian Constitution, overturning a 1967 ruling that denied AMU this status. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud led the majority opinion, supported by Justices Sanjiv Khanna, JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, with the three dissenting voices coming from Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and Satish Chandra Sharma.
The court directed a three-judge bench to reassess AMU’s minority status, relying on principles defined in this recent judgment. The case has sparked extensive debate, as the top court examined the complexities surrounding AMU’s identity as a minority institution versus its classification as a centrally funded university.
The Supreme Court’s decision also highlights tensions around the 1981 amendment to the AMU Act, which aimed to restore AMU’s minority status but did not revert to its 1920 foundational structure. The amendment’s limited restoration of AMU’s original minority character, which had existed prior to the 1951 changes, was a focal point during deliberations, with CJI Chandrachud previously noting it did a “half-hearted job.”
AMU’s origins trace back to 1875 when it was founded as the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan and later converted to a university in 1920 under the British Raj. The 1951 amendment removed the mandate for religious instruction for Muslim students, while the 1981 amendment attempted to reestablish its minority status, an effort that remains controversial.
Historically, the Allahabad High Court struck down the minority status granted by the 1981 amendment. Multiple appeals were subsequently filed with the Supreme Court, including by AMU itself. Legal interpretations of the AMU Act and debates around central funding have contributed to the protracted legal struggle, which previously led to the referral of the case to a seven-judge bench in 2019. The NDA government had announced in 2016 it would not pursue the UPA-led appeal against the Allahabad High Court’s 2006 decision that nullified the 1981 amendment.
The issue of AMU’s minority status has been a source of legal contention for decades, testing the balance of legislative intent and judicial interpretation.