DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA SCaffirmsminorityrights,setsaside itsverdictthatrejectedAMU’sstatus Relief on AMU campus: ‘Easier now to prove it is a minority institution’ Leaves it to regular bench to apply test, determine AMU’s minority status ANANTHAKRISHNAN G NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 E EXPLAINED CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 THE SC’S TEST FOR ● STATUS ■ What’s the institu- ion’s origin? Purpose? Is there minority role in its setting up? ■ Does its administration affirm minority character and serve minority interests? CJI D Y Chandrachud gets emotional during his farewell organised by the SCBA as Attorney General of India R Venkatramani looks on, in New Delhi on Friday. ANI 3 dissent: 1 rejects minority status, 2 join him in questioning process NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 OF THE three dissenting judges in the case to decide the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, Justice Dipankar Datta was the only one who categorically said that AMU is not a minorityeducationalinstitution. However,allthreedissenting judges – Justices Surya Kant, DipankarDattaandSCSharma– were of the view that the 1981 order by a two-judge bench referringS.AzeezBashav.Unionof India (1967) was incorrect and, according to Justice Kant, sufferedfrom“multipleillegalities”. In the case of Anjuman-eRahmania v.DistrictInspectorof Schools (1981), a two-judge benchdealing with the minority status of VMHS Rahmania Inter College,doubtedthecorrectness `6.00 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM SINCE 1932 IN 4-3 RULING, COURT SETS NEW TEST FOR MINORITY INSTITUTIONS AJOY SINHA KARPURAM POSTAL REGN. NO. JAIPUR CITY/001/2024-26 JOURNALISM OF COURAGE SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2024, JAIPUR, LATE CITY, 18 PAGES UNDERLINING THAT that the determination of the “minority character”of aninstitutionisnot a rigid concept, the Supreme Court, in a narrow 4-3 majority verdict, over-ruled 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, authoredbyChief Justiceof India D Y Chandrachud stated. Along with the CJI, Justices SanjivKhanna, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra formed the majority while Justices Dipankar Dutta, Surya Kant and Satish Chandra Sharma wrote separate dissenting opinions. Friday was CJI’s last day in office. ● THE EDITORIAL PAGE A SPECIAL RIGHT AMU verdict is a pushback against political projects that impose uniformity PAGE8 RELATEDREPORTS,P5,7 of the Supreme Court’s decision in S. Azeez Basha — where the court had held that Aligarh Muslim university is not a minority educational institution under Article 30 (1). In Anjuman-e-Rahmania, the court held that the case “...may be placed before Hon. The Chief Justice for being heard by a bench of at least 7 judges so that S. Azeez Basha’s case may also be considered”. While the majority in the AMUcaseheldthatthiswasper- missible, Justices Kant and Datta in their dissenting opinions and JusticeSCSharmainhisseparate judgment held that this reference was bad in law. JusticeKantstatedthatatwojudge bench does not have the powertoreferacasetoa7-judge bench, and can merely suggest that the matter be placed before alargerbench.Thepowertoconstitute a bench of a specific size lieswiththeChief Justiceof India as the Master of the Roster. On the question of AMU’s minority status, Justice Kant agreed that the case should be referred to a separate bench. However, he disagreed with the criteria laid down by the majority for determining this status. While the majority held that a minority educational institution does not need to show that the minority community was in Police security at the Aligarh Muslim University entrance on Friday. Abhinav Saha ABHINAYA HARIGOVIND ALIGARH, NOVEMBER 8 A WAVE of relief swept the Aligarh Muslim University campus the moment Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, reading out the 4-3 majority verdict Friday morning, overruled the Supreme Court’s 1967 ruling which had held that AMU was not a minority institution. For students, teachers and staff tracking the court proceedings,thiswasa welcomeverdict. Many were cautiously optimistic,pointingoutthatthelong waitforthemattertoberesolved had been prolonged again since itwouldnowhavetowaitforthe verdict of a regular bench. Professor Aftab Alam, CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Rajasthan to file case if mismatch in NREGA worker numbers on app photos, muster roll HARIKISHAN SHARMA NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 IN NEW directions under the MahatmaGandhiNationalRural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Rajasthan government has asked its district collectors to register criminal cases against mates (or worksite supervisors) if there is a difference betweenthenumberof workers showninphotographsuploaded bytheminanofficialappandthe numbershownaspresentonthe muster roll on a particular day. A mate is defined as “a worksite supervisor” by the Union NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 THERE IS no greater feeling for a judge than to be able to serve those in need, outgoing Chief Justiceof IndiaDYChandrachud said Friday as he bid goodbye to lawyers in Court Hall 1 of the Supreme Court on his last day in office. He will be retiring on November 10. BUSINESS AS USUAL BY UNNY Later in the day, at a farewell event organised by theSupreme Court BarAssociation(SCBA),CJI Chandrachud said, “I am probably one of the most trolled individuals and judges across the system... In a lighter vein, I am just wondering what will happen from Monday because all those who trolled me will be rendered unemployed.” Thereweremomentsofemotion as colleagues and lawyers heaped praises on him through theday.Afterthepronouncement of a judgment earlier in the day, the CJI wiped his moist eyes as JusticePSNarasimhasharedhow “extraordinary” had been their association. Recalling his days with CJI Chandrachud on the bench, Justice Narasimha said, “The openness with which he would hear every matter, ideas that he CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 India won’t travel to Pak for Champions Trophy: BCCI to PCB Wants its games to be held in Dubai SANDEEP DWIVEDI NEW DELHI, NOVEMBER 8 INDIAWILLnottraveltoPakistan for next year’s Champions Trophy cricket tournament. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), in a recent communication to the Pakistan Cricket Board, has cited security concernsbehinditsdecisionandexpressedadesiretoplaythatIndia CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 ‘It’s the diversity of the nation which protects the basic structure of the Constitution’ D Y CHANDRACHUD Chief Justice of India PAGES 14-15 China okays $1.4-trillion stimulus, may affect FPI inflows into India SHUBHAJIT ROY, RAVI DUTTA MISHRA & AANCHAL MAGAZINE BEIJING, NEW DELHI, NOV 8 THE CHINESE government Friday approved a 10-trillion yuan or US $1.4 trillion (1 US$ = 7.17 Chinese yuan) package aimedatgivingaboosttoaslow- ing domestic economy and bailing out local governments. The stimuluscomesjusttwodaysafter Donald Trump won the US Presidency following a campaign where he proposed tariffs as high as 60 per cent on goods imports from China. A Xinhuareport saidChinese lawmakers have approved the StateCouncilbilltoraisetheceil- ing on local government debt by 6 trillion yuan (about US$ 840 billion) to replace existing “hidden debts”, according to Xu Hongcai, deputy head of the financial and economic affairs committee of the National People'sCongress(NPC), China's top legislature. In other words, much of the CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 As world’s paragliders fill the sky, a remote Himachal village gets wings PAGE 1 ANCHOR SAURABH PARASHAR BIR (PALAMPUR), NOVEMBER 8 AS HE serves hot tea to Russian and Israeli solo paragliders scattered in and around his kuchcha shop, ‘Chachu Chai’, on an uninhabited hill in Billing in HimachalPradesh,PuranChand, 71, displays a near-encyclopaedic knowledge of the region’s paragliding history. “Neil Kinnear (England) and Paragliders in Bir-Billing in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district. Kamleshwar Singh CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 SECURITY CITED AS KEY CONCERN On his last day in office, CJI Chandrachud: No greater feeling than to serve the needy ANANTHAKRISHNAN G Ministry of Rural Development. Though not a government servant, the ministry requires the presence of at least one mate or supervisorforevery100workers. The “Guidelines for effective implementation of Mahatma Gandhi NREGA Scheme” circulated on October 25 this year asked the collectors to find out the actual reasons for the discrepancy. “…action should be taken to blacklist the mate and register a criminal case against themate.Actionshouldbetaken asperrulesagainsttheresponsible personnel of the Gram Panchayat for negligence in KeithNecols(theUS)arrivedhere with their hang glider over 40 years ago. On their second trip in 1980, Kinnear, a teacher in a Dharamshalaschool,encouraged me to open a tea stall on the hill for them. In 1984, the HangGliding World Cup was held in Bir-Billing.Forty-threepilotsfrom 13 countries participated in it. In 1986,BruceMilles(NewZealand) broughtparaglidingtoBilling.My fatherattendedsomeparagliding expeditions with him,” says Puran, whoends up staying back in his shop on most nights. While hang gliding didn’t CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Jaipur ThelastIndia-Pakmatchwas heldinNewYorkonJune9 duringtheT20WorldCup. ICC play all their games in Dubai. “Thishasbeenourstanceand CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 Stay united: PM to OBCs, Dalits as he targets Cong PM Narendra Modi pays tributes to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Nashik. PTI VALLABH OZARKAR NASHIK, NOVEMBER 8 TARGETING THE Congress for “pitting one caste against another”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the BJP’s Maharashtra Assembly election campaign from north Maharashtra. At public meetings in Dhule and Nashik, the PM appealed to Dalits,tribals,andOtherBackward Classes(OBCs)tostayunited,coining the slogan “Ek hain toh safe hain (Together, we are safe)”. The PM also tarDECISION geted the Opposition 2024 over a Jammu MAHARASHTRA and Kashmir Assemblyresolutionseekingdialogue for “restoration of special statusandconstitutionalguarantees”, saying “no power in the world” would be able to restore Article 370. “If STs(ScheduledTribes),SCs CONTINUED ON PAGE 2