SC lifts crucial bar that kept AMU out of the minority list

IN a landmark verdict on his last day in office on Friday, a Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud overruled by 4:3 its 1967 position that the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) can't claim minority status because it was created by a statute.

- SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY

The seven-judge bench, however, left the issue of deciding AMU's minority status to a regular bench while laying down a series of tests to make the determination. The bench should also examine the 2006 decision of the Allahabad High Court, which struck down a 1981 amendment conferring minority status on the varsity based on the principles laid down in this judgment.