SC reserves verdict on minority status of AMU

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), after days of heated debate.

A seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud heard the arguments put forth by the rival sides over eight days.

The bench also comprises justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma.

The issue of AMU's minority status has been caught in a legal maze for the last several decades. The top court had on February 12, 2019 referred to a seven-judge bench the contentious issue. A similar reference was also made in 1981.

A five-judge constitution bench had in the S Azeez Basha versus Union of India case in 1967 held that since AMU was a central university, it cannot be considered a minority institution.