Investigators further alleged that government resources were systematically used in the development of the university
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 properties attached represent alleged proceeds of crime valued at Rs 426.46 crore under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002, according to the ED. 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 agency also referred to a district administration inquiry that allegedly found illegal occupation of 45 plots of enemy property spanning about 34 acres in Singhankhera village. The ED said the Uttar Pradesh government had sanctioned Rs 23.41 crore for construction of a pandal, OBC boys’ hostel and hospital block on the campus. It alleged that a 2016 government order modified conditions contained in an earlier 2015 sanction and effectively transferred ownership of a government-funded pandal to the university, converting a publicly funded asset into private property.
The Custodian of Enemy Property had cancelled the lease granted to the trust and the land has since been taken back through the Rampur district administration under the Union home ministry, according to the ED. The university, spread across a large campus in Jauhar Nagar at Singhankhera village in Rampur, is owned by the trust founded and controlled by Azam Khan, who also serves as its honorary chancellor. 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. Investigators further alleged that government resources were systematically used in the development of the university. During the probe, the ED claimed to have found evidence suggesting diversion of government funds, use of publicly financed construction works on the private campus and routing of donations through contractors who had obtained state government contracts.