Aligarh Muslim University Minority Status : Live Updates From Supreme Court Hearing [Day 4]

SG : that option this particular institution did not exercise, therefore Basha says you have surrendered , that is the ratio of Basha.

CJI: we got your point.

SG: my intention was not that because they sided with British don't trust, they had every right to take their own political stand, maybe that was the beneficial stand for the students etc  

SG : that's not my case, I'm just trying to show how historically you surrendered while others did not. others also had the option of surrendering their rights as a denominational institution .....but they continued their existence de hors the govt. No article 30 (1) in existence, you could have surrendered , you could have stuck to your ground. Vishwa Bharati stuck to its ground

CJI : so they continued to award degrees which were not recognized by the then govt.

SG : yes, when India became free and subsequently when UGC Act all the institutions which continued their denominational character were recognized as either universities/ deemed universities 

CJI : the fact that the loyalists were in alignment with the views of the Imperial power doesn't make it any less an institution founded by minority. Founded by the minority does not been that you have to be in opposition of the govt. Therefore to say there were two factions - loyalist or with nationalist movement does not have bearing that it seizes to be minority institution.

CJI : We are just saying that this hypothesis is equally consistent with the fact that a minority institution may or may not be politically inclined towards the govt 

CJI : same time you know are broadly the parameters I drew up into during the Kashmir judgement, that something in a book is secondary material, official documents .....we have to be little careful when we are dealing with underlining materials in a book ... we are just making a small caveat as far as the books are concerned ...

SG submits on Gandhiji's role in supporting the khilafat movement in the larger aspect of anti-British movement

Dr. Dhavan : these are all new facts, loyalist and non loyalist, these are impositions from a book , let them stick to the pleadings

SG : my learned friend may not be aware, these documents are placed by them I am only relying upon them, it is nothing new Im placing

Dr. Dhavan : no no 

SG : courses of MAO was recognised by Allahabad University

Khanna J : we may not be very sure whether courses were recognised or not but the degrees were given by Allahabad University

SG submits on the history of the AMU - Jamia split

CJI: when MAO was called a college, was it in nature of college or college + university ?

SG: it was a college affiliated to Allahabad University, the way Stephens today is affiliated to DU

Dr. Dhavan clarified that MAO gave tertiary education only and not secondary 

The Court resumes hearing

SG : they were institutions in the British time which had reputation, granted degrees except they were not under the British crown (gives list of example - Scottish college, St. Stepehen's, Roorkee College etc)

CJI : what are indicia to indicate that when it conferred with university status that it surrendered its minority status ? we have to see independently whether by the 1920 Act, AMU's denominational status was lost

SG stresses on 3 compartments (a) correspondence between the MAO and British authorities; (b) the debates in the imperial parliament and (c) the Act itself as it stood in 1920

CJI : what happened between 1920 to 1950 (with AMU)

SG : theres no change in the 1920 Act, first amendment comes in 1951

CJI : does the 1920 Act have the consequence of abrogating its status as a denominational institution governed by a religious minority ?