The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Uttar Pradesh, originally valued at Rs 426.46 crore, with an estimated current market value of Rs 1,170 crore, in a money laundering case against the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, former Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan and others.
The ED said its investigation revealed the alleged diversion of funds allocated for public works to the university, the execution of government-funded works on its private campus, and the alleged routing of money received by contractors for government projects back to the trust as donations. The land has since been taken back by the Custodian of Enemy Property under the Ministry of Home Affairs through the district administration. The structure could not be sold or transferred and was to be made available free of cost for government use.
The attachment has been made under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, following an investigation into allegations of illegal land acquisition, diversion of government funds and the use of public resources for the construction of the private university. The investigation began following 26 FIRs registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur, alleging that agricultural land belonging to farmers was forcibly taken over for the university, according to the ED. An inquiry by the Rampur district administration also alleged that 45 plots of ‘enemy property’ (refers to assets left behind by those who migrated to Pakistan), measuring approximately 34 acres in Singhankhera village, had been illegally occupied for the university despite the cancellation of the trust’s lease. The managing director of a company that received Public Works Department (PWD) contracts worth approximately Rs 186 crore allegedly told investigators that 30-40 per cent of the contract value was used to purchase construction materials for the university. The firm donated Rs 40 lakh to the trust, according to the agency. The investigation further said the Uttar Pradesh government sanctioned Rs 23.41 crore for the construction of a pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital block on the university’s private campus. A government order issued in 2015, when SP’s Akhilesh Yadav was the chief minister, had sanctioned Rs 12.16 crore for the pandal, stipulating that ownership would remain with the state Culture Department. However, a subsequent order in 2016 allegedly altered these conditions, transferring ownership of the pandal to Jauhar University and removing the provision requiring it to be made available for government use. Azam Khan was a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government when the orders were issued in 2015 and 2016, holding the Urban Development portfolio. Earlier reporting noted: ED attaches Azam Khan’s Jauhar University assets worth Rs 1,170 crore in money laundering case Investigators further alleged that government resources were systematically used in the development of the university Earlier reporting noted: LUCKNOW: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has provisionally attached land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur with an estimated current market value of around Rs 1,170 crore as part of its money laundering investigation against the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan, and others. The ED said its probe was initiated on the basis of 26 FIRs registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur under various provisions, including allegations that farmers were coerced into surrendering agricultural land for expansion of the university campus.
The ED said its investigation uncovered the alleged diversion of money and construction materials from government contracts towards the construction of the university by contractors, primarily based in Rampur. Partners of another firm allegedly told investigators that they operated under Azam Khan’s influence. The ED said this effectively converted a public asset constructed using state funds into the private property of the university.
Earlier reporting noted: The money laundering investigation stems from allegations that land for the university was acquired illegally and that public funds and resources were diverted for construction of the institution.
