Govt assures HC of no interference in exams at Azam Trust-run school

“We direct that the State-respondents shall abide by the statement made by the learned Additional Advocate General,” Justice Surya Prakash Kesarwani and Justice Anish Kumar Gupta told Additional Advocate General Ajit Kumar Singh.

When the petition came up for hearing on Thursday, Additional Advocate General Singh sought adjournment arguing that the Advocate General who was scheduled to argue the case was not available. Senior Advocate Shashi Nandan, appearing for the Trust, however, objected to the adjournment request saying the issue was about the ongoing examinations at the school “…which shall conclude on March 18 and, therefore, till the examination is concluded, no interference may be made.” To this, the government lawyer said “no interference in the classrooms shall be caused” on the two days for examination.

The case will now be heard on March 21.

The lease for a 3.24-acre land in Rampur, on which the school was being run by the Trust, was cancelled by the government in a Cabinet meeting in Lucknow on January 28. The lease was signed in 2013-14 for Rs 100 per annum for more than 30 years, officials had said. As per officials, the lease was “signed in the name of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Training and Research Institute, and a private school was being run on the government land by Jauhar Trust, headed by former Cabinet minister Azam Khan”.