A brief report of the Lecture on
‘The constitution, Minorities and the Judiciary’
By
Dr. Faizan Mustafa
(Professor, Faculty of Law and the Registrar, A.M.U Aligarh)
The
“minority character” of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is legally and
constitutionally sanctioned and cannot possibly be done away with by any means,
eminent law professor and registrar of AMU Dr Faizan Mustafa said here today.
Speaking
on “The Constitution, Minorities and the Judiciary” at the prestigious
Indian Social Institute Dr Mustafa, however, regretted that the recent judgement
of Allahabad High Court had negated AMU’s essential character enshrined in the
establishing Act of Parliament of 1921 as well as the Act of 1982 which restored
its character and clarified certain ambiguities for all time to come.
In
his erudite lecture, which was part of a series organised by the Institute of
Objective Studies (IOS) Dr Mustafa cited several pronouncements of the Supreme
Court as well as the High Courts of states supporting Article 25, 26, 29 and 30
which one way or the other had some bearing on the minorities’ right to
establish their own institution of education.
Dr
Mustafa showed concern over gradual dilution of Article 30 and other associated
Articles of the Constitution through a series of judicial pronouncements.
However, he observed that the basic constitutional sheet anchor, legal framework
and statutory guarantees remained intact in their intent and capability to
protect the minorities’ constitutional right to establish institutions of
their own.
Mr. Mushtaq Ahmad, a Supreme Court lawyer, had convened the event, which was presided over by Anoop G Chaudhary, another Supreme Court lawyer. The programme began with a recitation of the holy Quran, followed by a brief introduction of IOS activities by Secretary General Prof. Z.M Khan.