A day after the Supreme Court paved the way for Aligarh Muslim University to be termed a minority institution, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Adityanath on Saturday asked why the institute does not offer caste-based reservation, reported ANI.
“You must have seen yesterday the Supreme Court was hearing a matter on whether Aligarh Muslim University should be made a minority university or should it remain as a general institution,” said Adityanath while speaking at an election rally in the Khair reserved seat of Aligarh district.
He added: “How is it possible that an institution which runs with the taxes of the people of India does not give any reservation to the people of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, but they try to arrange for 50% reservation for Muslims there through their own means and this is the case going on.”
Reserved for a Scheduled Caste candidate, Khair will go to polls on November 20.
In India, most government-funded educational institutions reserve 15% of the seats for Scheduled Caste candidates, 7.5% of seats for Scheduled Tribe candidates, 27% of seats for Other Backward Classes and 10% of seats are reserved for Economically Weaker Sections.
On Friday, the top court overruled its 1967 judgement, which had held that an educational institution set up by an Act of Parliament cannot claim to be a minority institution.
In the 1967 Azeez Basha judgement, the court had held Aligarh Muslim University to be a central university. The judgement also said that Article 29 and Article 30 of the Constitution cannot be conferred on it to grant a minority status.
Article 29 of the Constitution ensures that citizens are not denied admission based on their religion, race, caste, or language to educational institutions maintained by the state.
Article 30 guarantees that the state shall not discriminate on matters of granting aid against any educational institution on the basis that it is managed by a minority group. It also says that all minorities, whether based on religion or language, have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
Former Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that whether the university is a minority institution will be decided by a regular bench based on the tests laid down by the court in this judgement.
Speaking about the case on Saturday, Adityanath said: “I feel that when Indian money is invested in Aligarh Muslim University, children of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classess should get a reservation in academic courses and staff selection.”
He also blamed the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party for being behind the denial of caste-based reservation.
Adityanath claimed that the parties were pursuing “vote bank politics”, reported ANI.
Friday’s judgement of the Supreme Court came on petitions that stem from the 1967 decision by a five-judge Constitution bench of the top court and a 2005 decision by the Allahabad High Court.
In 2005, the university reserved 50% of seats in its postgraduate medical courses for Muslim students. This was challenged before the Allahabad High Court, which struck down the reservation on the ground that the university was not a minority educational institution as per the Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling.
The High Court’s decision was soon challenged before the Supreme Court by the university and the Union government.
In 2006, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court stayed the reservation policy, referring the case to a larger bench.
Also read: Explained: How Supreme Court kicked the can of AMU’s minority status down the road
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