SC affirms minority rights, sets aside its verdict that rejected AMU's status

Underlining that the determination of the "minority character" of an institution is not a rigid concept, the Supreme Court, in a narrow 4-3 majority verdict, overruled its 1967 ruling which had held that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was not a minority institution. "The view taken in Azeez Basha... that an educational institution is not established by a minority if it derives its legal character through a statute, is overruled," the majority verdict, authored by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated. 

SC's test of a 'minority institution'

A seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Friday laid down in a 4-3 majority verdict a "holistic and realistic" test to determine the "minority character" of an educational institution, but left the factual determination on AMU to a smaller Bench. In 1967, the Supreme Court in S. Azeez Basha v Union of India held that AMU was neither established nor administered by the Muslim minority - it came into existence through an Act of the central legislature-and did not, therefore, qualify as a minority institution under Article 30 of the Constitution. In 1981, the government amended the AMU Act, 1920, to say that the institution was established by the Muslim community to promote the cultural and educational advancement of Muslims in India.

A Special Right 

The judgment reverses the 1967 SC decision in S Azeez Basha v Union of India - the SC had then relied on a technical interpretation of the guarantee to religious minorities, in Article 30, to establish and run educational institutions. It had ruled that AMU was neither "established nor administered" by Muslims. 

Though the university evolved from the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College founded by Syed Ahmed Khan in 1877, the Court had held that the institution's legal status rested on the AMU Act 1920-this legislation incorporated the social reformer's college and another educational body into one university.

Defining minority character

The Supreme Court's jurisprudence on minority rights, starting from the Kerala Education Bill case (1957), has been one that any constitutional court can be proud of. S Azeez Basha (1967) was a rare exception that was widely criticised, with India's greatest constitutional law expert HM Seervai terming it as "productive of great public mischief". 

Seven-judge bench, by majority of 4:3, overruled a 56-year-old judgment and laid down the indicia to determine the minority character of an institution that had been left unanswered even by the 11-judge bench in TMA Pai Foundation (2002). In December 1981, Parliament amended the Aligarh Muslim University Act of 1920 and clarified the doubts about the word "establish" in the long title and preamble of the original Act by deleting it. It explicitly declared in Section 2 (L) that Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) was established by the Muslims of India as an institution of their choice, which had originated as MAO College and was subsequently incorporated.

Being Olympics Ready 

With great cultural diversity and projected economic might on its side, India will stake a formidable claim to hosting the 2036 Olympics. The letter of intent submitted last month will be scrutinised not merely for the capacity to translate on the ground fancy stadium designs, but also on India's ability to wear the cosmopolitan garb with ease, making the country feel welcoming to athletes and spectators around the world. Six medals just 12 years before the proposed Olympics also point to the need for serious intervention and plans on imminent funding cuts don't bode well for the country.

Unshackle the rupee

Over the two decades through 2020, the average annual volatility (that is to say, the movement) of the rupee-dollar (INR-USD) rate typically ran around 5 percent. But between April 2023 and August 2024, the average volatility collapsed to 1.9 per cent, an extraordinarily low level not only com- pared to India's own past but also its emerging economy peers. It has come about due to an apparent change in the RBI's currency policy. Since late 2022, the RBI has decided to actively intervene on both sides of the foreign exchange market, on some days buying dollars to prevent the rupee from appreciating and on other days selling dollars to prevent depreciation. 

US Fed cuts rates amid unclear outlook: impact on markets, including in India

The US Federal Reserve cut interest rates Thursday by 25 basis points (or one quarter of a percentage point), the second reduction of 2024, while continuing to signal that inflation is coming under control. 

The Fed's move comes less than 48-hours after America elected Donald Trump as its next president.

Jerome Powell, the US Fed chair, suggested during a news conference that the American central bank would be watching economic data as they decide whether to make a final rate cut of 2024 at their next meeting in December. 

Debroy committee charted the Railways' path towards competitiveness, but most recommendations still work-in-progress

The landmark report of the 2015 expert committee on Railway Reforms, headed by the late economist Bibek Debroy, did clear the decks for a complete overhaul of the national transporter to achieve economic viability in operational terms and recover its loss of competitiveness in the transportation market. While some of the recommendations have been taken on board: including the phasing out of the separate Rail Budget, the redesignation of the Chairman of Railway Board as CEO and a plan to accord more powers to General Managers (GMs) and Divisional General Managers (DRMs) to take decisions "independently", the overarching recommendation on "liberalisation" of Indian Railways has not been taken on board yet. The committee was constituted on September 22, 2014, which submitted its final report in June 2015. The committee had made a total of 40 recommendations, out of which, 19 were fully accepted, 7 were partially accepted and 14 recommendations were rejected. 

China's stimulus bazooka likely to weigh in on battered Indian markets

The 'Sell India, buy China' strategy of global investors is likely to retain momentum with China on Friday approving a $1.4 trillion plan to revive the economy that authorises local governments to sort out the debt problems. The China gambit could see further potential outflow of capital from the battered domestic markets which saw a record-high net outflow of over 1.30 lakh crore since October this year in response to the rise in Chinese equities following the announcement of aggressive fiscal stimulus measures. The Chinese stimulus package has come a day after the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England cut the interest rates by 25 basis points and a series of cuts by the People's Bank of China in the recent months to revive the economy.