( 1 ) THE short basic issue in all these appeals is whether the Aligarh Muslim University is a minority Institution. The point arises because suddenly some eighty five years after incorporation, they chose for the first time to reserve a Muslim quota, by way of a 50% reservation of post-graduate course seats meant for qualified MBBS doctors. The judgment under appeal before us has been delivered by an Honble Single Judge of our Court on the 4th of october, 2005. Both sides, to be more accurate, all parties, felt aggrieved, and came up in appeal. The appeals will all be disposed of by this common order.

( 2 ) ON the one side, who spoke first were, the Aligarh Muslim University, represented by Mr. S. S. Ray, leading Dr. Dhawan, the Union of India and the learned Attorney General on whose behalf mr. Gopal Subramaniam addressed us, two individuals one of whom is a member of the Court of the University, which is its administrative body, the Minority Commission whose case was put forward by Mr. Ravindra Srivastava, and groups of Muslim students/represented by two learned counsel one of whom was Mr. Ashok Khare and Anr. Mr. S. A. Shah.

( 3 ) ON the other side were certain dissatisfied students whose case was put forward by Mr. Ravi kant. Before we proceed any further, we make it clear that in spite of the most elaborate expertise and painstaking arguments on the part of the University and its supporters, we felt so utterly unconvinced that Mr. Ravi Kant was called upon to speak for about two hours whereas the other side had amongst themselves addressed us for some five days or so. Those hearings were substantially full day hearings.

( 4 ) ALTHOUGH we cannot say the same thing about the various reasons given by Honble the Single judge and the orders passed by his Lordship, we have no hesitation in upholding his Lordships main and primary decision in these matters, which is that Basha still holds the field and the 1981 act must give way before it wherever the two come in conflict.

( 5 ) BASHA is the case of Azeez Basha, a Five Judge Bench decision of the Supreme Court and the report of the case will be found at AIR 1968 S. C. 662 It ruled that the University is not a minority institution.

( 6 ) THE 1981 Act is an Act of our Parliament, No. 62 of 1981 being Aligarh Muslim University (Amendment Act 1981), which received assent of the President of India on the 31st December, 1981 and was published thereafter on the same day.

( 7 ) IN Basha, the Court spoke through the Honble then Chief Justice K. N. Wanchoo; it is a decision running to about 12 pages of the All India Reporter.

( 8 ) THAT case has to be read by any reader of this judgment before proceeding any further herewith. On the simple principle of following higher and binding authorities, we have to give this case full and complete effect and none of the statements in this case can be discounted by us. It would be wrong for us to quote the case fully here and it would be a wholly unnecessary and unusual exercise; but the case should be treated as quoted herein fully and we must be understood hereafter as bearing in our minds all the time the basic and first principle that we in this Bench are forbidden to look behind the decision of a five Judge Bench of the, Supreme court of India.

( 9 ) THE problem before us arose because Parliament, an equally binding source of law so far as we are concerned, chose to pass the amending Act of 1981 which, according to appellants, (by the appellants hereafter we shall mean the University and its supporters; we shall refer to the aggrieved non-Muslim students as the cross-appellants hereafter), the said Act of 1981 changed the basis of Basha and that too to such an extent that today, we as the appropriate pronouncing authority must pronounce the Aligarh Muslim University as a minority Institution, the Basha case notwithstanding.

( 10 ) THE task before the Honble Single Judge was, and before us also is, to see whether the 1981 act