<p>New Delhi: "Let's not comment on political personalities," the Supreme Court on Wednesday told a lawyer who took names of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and others while arguing on a question concerning minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).</p><p>The observation came from Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, who was heading a seven-judge constitution bench, after the lawyer argued that Muslims are "not minority as they are in a position to affect the electoral outcome".</p><p>"Muslims as a minority affect the elections and that is if Bhindranwale was creation of Mrs Gandhi, then Owaisi is a creation of BJP. They want to divide the Muslim vote," the lawyer argued, apparently referring to AIMIM leaders without specifically identifying them.</p><p>"We will not steer away from the area of constitutional law," the CJI said, adding, "Let's not comment on political personalities".</p><p>The lawyer said as per the 2011 census, Muslims were 14.2 per cent of the country's population.</p><p>"This court is not competent to decide this question whether they affect any elections or not. That is why I have mentioned that your lordships may have some kind of commission to go into this question," he said.</p><p>To this, the CJI said, "So according to you, Muslims are in a position to affect electoral outcomes and therefore, they are not a minority".</p><p>The lawyer said, "Yes".</p><p>The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma, heard submissions of several lawyers during the day's proceeding.</p><p>The arguments remained inconclusive and would continue on Thursday.</p><p>The issue of AMU's minority status has been caught in a legal maze for the last several decades.</p><p>The top court had on February 12, 2019 referred to a seven-judge bench the contentious issue for adjudication. A similar reference was made earlier.</p>
<p>New Delhi: "Let's not comment on political personalities," the Supreme Court on Wednesday told a lawyer who took names of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and others while arguing on a question concerning minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).</p><p>The observation came from Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, who was heading a seven-judge constitution bench, after the lawyer argued that Muslims are "not minority as they are in a position to affect the electoral outcome".</p><p>"Muslims as a minority affect the elections and that is if Bhindranwale was creation of Mrs Gandhi, then Owaisi is a creation of BJP. They want to divide the Muslim vote," the lawyer argued, apparently referring to AIMIM leaders without specifically identifying them.</p><p>"We will not steer away from the area of constitutional law," the CJI said, adding, "Let's not comment on political personalities".</p><p>The lawyer said as per the 2011 census, Muslims were 14.2 per cent of the country's population.</p><p>"This court is not competent to decide this question whether they affect any elections or not. That is why I have mentioned that your lordships may have some kind of commission to go into this question," he said.</p><p>To this, the CJI said, "So according to you, Muslims are in a position to affect electoral outcomes and therefore, they are not a minority".</p><p>The lawyer said, "Yes".</p><p>The bench, also comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna, Surya Kant, J B Pardiwala, Dipankar Datta, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma, heard submissions of several lawyers during the day's proceeding.</p><p>The arguments remained inconclusive and would continue on Thursday.</p><p>The issue of AMU's minority status has been caught in a legal maze for the last several decades.</p><p>The top court had on February 12, 2019 referred to a seven-judge bench the contentious issue for adjudication. A similar reference was made earlier.</p>