Jauhar Trust land shrinking with Azam’s clout on wane
On Tuesday, the UP cabinet cleared a proposal to take back the building and land of Murtaza Higher Secondary School leased by the secondary education dept to the Jauhar trust in Rampur by the then Samajwadi Party government in 2002 at an annual rent of ₹100
LUCKNOW With SP leader Azam Khan’s clout on the wane, the sprawling campus of the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which runs the Jauhar University in Rampur headed by Khan, has also shrunk considerably after the Trust ran into trouble over allegations of irregularities and land encroachments since the BJP government came to power.
On Tuesday, the UP cabinet cleared a proposal to take back the building and land of Murtaza Higher Secondary School leased by the secondary education department to the Jauhar trust in Rampur by the then Samajwadi Party government in 2002 at an annual rent of ₹100. The ownership of this 41,181 square feet land will be transferred back to the secondary education department by the state government.
President of the trust and chancellor of the university, Azam Khan - once a symbol of power in Rampur till 2007 - and his son Abdullah, also an active member of the trust, are currently lodged in Sitapur and Hardoi jail, respectively, after a Rampur MP/MLA court awarded them and Azam’s wife Tazeen Fatima seven years’ imprisonment each in the case of fake birth certificate of Abdullah. He also faced multiple FIRs of land grabbing and litigations related to the same.
Sitting BJP MLA from Rampur Sadar assembly, Aakash Saxena, whose complaint led to the probe into the alleged illegally occupied land by the Trust, informed that its property was spread over nearly 560 acres (2266239.59632 sq mts) till 2019, when he took up the issue.
Saxena said around 350 acres land (1416399.7477 sq mts) was illegally occupied by the Trust. According to him, these plots included around 16 acres (64749.702752 sq mts) of ‘chak road’, 150 acres (607028.4633 sq mts) of gram samaj land, near 62 acres (250905.098164 sq mts) land of Dalit people, 22 acres (89030.841284 sq mts) land of farmers and 100 acres (404685.6422 sq mts) of ponds and other government land.
“Though most of these lands of chak road, gram samaj, Dalits, farmers and ponds have been reoccupied, but the litigation is still pending in the Supreme Court in the matter,” he added.
He explained, “The litigation is against the local SDM’s report that found the acquisition of land by the Trust illegal, on my complaint in 2019, for violation of land law. The then Samajwadi Party government granted permission to the Trust to acquire around 400 acres (1618742.5688 sq mts) of land against the ceiling of 12.5 acres (50585.705275 sq mts) for the establishment of the university while imposing certain conditions, one of which was that the land will be used only for educational purposes. According to law, if such a condition is violated, the permission granted by the state government stands withdrawn and it was violated.”
He said the Allahabad high court stated that a mosque was constructed over the land, which was only for educational purposes, and thus, it is a violation of the permission granted by the state government.
Additional district magistrate (Rampur) Lalta Prasad Shakya said the district administration is pursuing the matter and illegally occupied land will be taken back as per the law and directives of the court.
In 2005, the then SP government had enacted the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Act, paving the way for the creation of the university.
