The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Allahabad High Court order permitting the Uttar Pradesh government to take back land from the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, Rampur.
The Apex Court heard the University’s plea challenging the High Court order. The High Court had ordered the government to take control of more than 450 acres of land except 12.5 acres from the trust.
In 2005, the university was given 500 acres of land in Rampur. However, the university failed to adhere to conditions on which the trust was granted, so the state government asked for the return of the land.
On behalf of Uttar Pradesh, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta opposed the University’s petition and said the government had started the process of taking back the land as per the HC order.
The Solicitor General argued: “Land meant for education was being used for other activities.”
In fact, Samajwadi Party MLA Azam Khan has challenged the Allahabad High Court order against the acquisition of land by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust in the Supreme Court.
Last year, the Allahabad High Court dismissed the Jauhar Trust’s petition challenging the SDM’s report and the validity of the ADM’s order.
At the same time, the court had upheld the order of ADM Finance given by the state to take back the additional 12.50 acres of land acquired by Azam Khan’s Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust for the university.
The High Court had also said that lands for Scheduled Castes was illegally taken over by the trust without the permission of the District Magistrate. Instead of using it for educational work, a mosque was built in violation of the conditions for acquisition.
In this case, about 471 acres of land was acquired by the trust for the construction of the university. The land of Chak Road for public use of the Gram Sabha and government land on the banks of the river was taken. The same farmers were forcibly made to buy their land and 26 farmers had lodged an FIR against Azam Khan over this.
The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the UP government asking it to file its reply. The court will hear the matter in August.