[dropcap]A[/dropcap] two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul today dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Rudra Vikram Singh, seeking change in the name of Aligarh Muslim University. The moment PIL was taken up for consideration; CJI remarked: “You want us to do that. Dismissed”.
A two-judge bench comprising CJI Ranjan Gogoi & Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul dismisses a PIL seeking change in the name of Aligarh Muslim University.
— The Leaflet (@TheLeaflet_in) January 7, 2019
In 2017, University Grants Commission (UGC) panel had recommended removal of words such as ‘Hindu’ and ‘Muslim’ from the names of Banaras Hindu University and Aligarh Muslim University. In response, AMU had replied to Ministry of Human Resource Development calling this idea a “preposterous” for ignoring the intuition’s long history and unique character. “The name of the university gives us an idea about its history, purpose and character and preserving the same is our bounden Constitutional duty, said the then Registrar of the AMU in his reply to UGC panel report.
Union Minster of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar had ruled out any proposal to change in the name of AMU and BHU and termed the UGC panel’s suggestion beyond committee’s mandate.
