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

SG refers to the difference between a pre-constituion university recognized as opposed to pre-constitution university which were not recognised, he provided a list of such non recognised universities eg. Osmania, Bihar University, Kashi Vidhyala, Jamia

SG mentions about the Khilafat movement and the Ali brothers who decided to create Jamia Milia Islamia away from AMU ( against the notion of being under an imperial legislation)

SG draws examples of various universities who had choice to continue to be minority institutions within the imperial legislations

SG refers to the history of making BHU in 1950; list of universities established by imperial legislatures before the constitution.

SG : Justice Wanchoo was the only CJI who did not have a legal background (while referring to A Basha)

SG reads from his submissions

SG mentions about the historical context in which the stream of universities was at its peak in 1920s which had no blessings of the imperial regime (the nationalists, shanti niketan etc)

SG mentions about the history of Jamia Milia Islamia breaking away from AMU and how it only registered after the UGC Act came into effect.

SG takes the bench to his written submissions

SG : Your lordships are examining the law in A Basha, Basha has to be understood in the historical context of which Act of 20 was passed and context in which Basha was decided. Basha does not lay down a law of universal applicaton nor does it lay down any ratio which the petitioners have understood

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta makes his submissions.

CJI : there cannot be doubt that article 30 is contingent on compliance with regulatory provisions; 2nd even minority institutions do not fall below the national standard, but can the right to establish a minority institution itself be contingent on the recognition by enabling statute, that argument seems to be overbroad.

CJI: then you will be making a constitutional right subservient to the statute.

AG: anybody can set up an institution, but you must have some authority of law or competence available to you under a law 

Khanna J : is there any university established from 1950 - 2010? there's none.

AG : there all school, colleges, deemed universities

CJI : 2. suppose there's a state legislation which allows for the setting up of the universities and particular minority seeks to set up within the purview of the legislation would that by itself lead to denial minority status

AG takes the bench to Minority Education Institutions Act 

CJI: does the fact that an institution set up under a law amount to denial of right to claim a minority status, if the answer is no, then when do you say that a minority status doesn't existence ?