The Supreme Court of India has made a significant ruling regarding the provision of religious education in government-funded minority institutions. The court declared that no minority institution, whether fully or partially funded by the government, can impart religious teaching to its students. The decision came about during a discussion on the 1951 amendment to the AMU Act. The court emphasized that even if a minority institution receives as little as one percent of its budget from the government, it can only offer religious teaching to students who volunteer for it. This ruling also applies to partially funded minority institutions, which cannot enforce compulsory religious teaching on their students. The decision was prompted by the solicitor general pointing out that Parliament had removed the requirement for compulsory religious teaching for Muslim students in the Aligarh Muslim University through the 1951 amendment to the AMU Act. Justice Khanna, a member of the bench, clarified that when a minority institution receives recognition from the government, it loses the right to mandate religious teaching for its students. In his argument, the solicitor general highlighted that these conditions regarding government grants apply equally to all educational institutions, regardless of their minority or non-minority status. The bench raised an interesting point regarding the establishment of the Aligarh Muslim University, suggesting that a reserve fund of 30 lakh rupees (which was not solely contributed by Muslims but also received contributions from other communities) might indicate the university’s establishment and serve as a basis for conferring minority status upon it. The solicitor general countered this by asserting that the historical non-minority character codified in the AMU Act should remain unchanged based on post-Constitution considerations. He explained that both the Aligarh Muslim University and Banaras Hindu University were established in 1920 and 1915, respectively, and received an annual grant of 1 lakh rupees from the British government. The solicitor general further added that the Aligarh Muslim University currently receives 1,570 crore rupees in government grants annually, highlighting its importance as an institution of national significance and its high rank among distinguished universities.