A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled 4:3 Friday to overturn a key 1967 judgement on the Aligarh Muslim University, which removed minority status, but left it to another (as yet unconstituted) bench to decide if the institution should be granted this again.

The bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud – who retires today – struck down an earlier ruling that said an institution incorporated by a statute could not claim minority status, but left the question as it pertains to AMU to be decided by a regular bench.

The three dissenting judges on the Constitution bench today were Justices Surya Kant, Dipankar Datta, and SC Sharma, while three others – Justices Sanjiv Khanna (who will be the next Chief Justice), JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra, as well as the outgoing Chief Justice, held the majority.

The bench had earlier reserved its verdict on February 1.