Can minority tag be restored to AMU in post-statute era: SC

A hint of the possible inclination of the bench to move beyond merits of the claim for minority status and adjudicate the matter by taking into account the social context came when it asked government whether. could be restored to AMU in the post-Constitution era even though its Muslim patrons had voluntarily surrendered it to get recognition and grants from the British government in 1920...

Opposing the course of interpretation suggested by the CJI, solicitor general Tushar Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Sharma, that during the peak of the independence movement in the 1920s, the nationalists established eminent universities without seeking statutory support from the then government, but the patrons of AMU, who professed loyalty to the British, preferred the imperial government's support...

The SG said the historical fact was that the patrons, lobbying with the British for establishment of AMU, had voluntarily given up denominational status for the institution..

"Had Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College, which was established and administered by Muslims, continued as such post-Constitution, that institution would have been conferred with minority status," he said..

However, MAO College completely merged with AMU, which was established through a statute that categorically ruled out its denominational status and gave the British government overarching control over AMU administration, Mehta said...

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