A week after the Allahabad high court verdict, the government Tuesday said it would "decide on steps" required to find a way to restore the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.
"On receiving a certified copy of the judgement of the high court, we will decide on steps required to find a way to uphold the commitment of Indira Gandhi about AMU being a minority institution," Human Resources and Development Minister Arjun Singh said in a statement in New Delhi.
The high court had on January 5 rejected the Centre's plea for restoring the minority status of AMU and scrapping 50 per cent reservation for Muslim students.
Upholding the single bench's judgement on October 4, 2005 declaring that AMU was not a minority institution and 50 per cent reservation for Muslims was illegal, a two-member bench had ruled that according the university the status of a minority institution was "ultra vires to the Constitution".
Singh recalled that Indira Gandhi had the issue examined and then in the election manifesto of the 1980 parliamentary elections, mentioned that all doubts on this account would be removed after the polls.
He said as prime minister, Indira Gandhi got the AMU Act amended with near unanimity in Parliament. "This government is committed to the decision she took," he stressed.
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