30 days, multiple notices: How Azam Khan’s UP university came under regulatory fire

Soon after, a joint team of the RDA and Fire Department conducted an inspection of the university premises, and a notice by the RDA to the trust and university followed on June 28. The RDA sought details of map approvals for the university’s buildings.

The trust gave its reply on July 8, but the RDA did not find it satisfactory, and sought a personal hearing on July 15. The same day, not satisfied with the pleas of the trust and university again, the RDA issued the demolition notice for 38 buildings of the university, located on about 82,309 sq metres.

Samajwadi Party Youth wing workers hold a protest against state government on Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, demolition order, in front of state assembly in Lucknow on Monday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

Meanwhile, on July 7 and 16, the Fire Department issued the university first a notice and then a reminder seeking details of its building plans and asking if fire NOCs were taken.

On July 16, the Public Works Department put up a signboard outside the main gate of the university declaring the road leading into the campus a “public road” built using government money, and directing that the university allow free access to it. After two days, however, the university was allowed to close its gates again.

On July 17, the Jal Nigam issued a Rs 11 crore recovery notice to the university for “privately” using a Sewage Treatment Plant that was meant for public use.

Out of the 38 buildings served demolition notices, and given time till August 3, two are mosque structures, sources told The Indian Express. This is one of the violations cited in the income tax show cause notice to the trust, asking how an institution established for charitable purposes used its income for “private religious purpose” or for any “particular religious community”.

A senior administrative official said that the income tax notice of June 23, questions about the construction of mosques inside the campus, and the lack of building approvals and fire NOCs “formed the basis for further action”. “Joint teams were formed, who visited the campus and found the facts to be true, and on the basis of this, notices by other agencies were issued.”

Sources said the Income Tax Department is also looking at “donations” and government funds used in the construction of the university.

Another senior official said: “While the trust claimed that over 10 buildings were constructed by the government, it turns out this number was 40, with map approval given by the zila panchayat, Rampur, for only the medical college and academic block buildings.”

Samajwadi Party Youth wing workers hold a protest against state government on Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, demolition order, in front of state assembly in Lucknow on Monday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

The trust’s argument is that the matter does not fall under the jurisdiction of the RDA, as it was established only in 2005, the same year as the law for establishing the university was passed. Tazeen Fatima, the wife of Jauhar University founder Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, told The Indian Express: “It was only in September 2024 that, after the expansion of the RDA, Singhankhera village of Sadar Tehsil came under its jurisdiction. Most of the university’s buildings were completed much before that, so the question of getting maps sanctioned from the RDA does not exist.”

District Magistrate Rampur Ajay Dwivedi, the Vice-Chairman of the RDA, says: “We are not seeking RDA-approved maps, but those cleared by any appropriate authority which, at that time, was the zila panchayat. The fact that map approval was taken for two buildings shows that the trust knew the procedure.”

Dwivedi adds that the RDA’s hands are tied. “The university is on land categorised as agriculture, and we don’t have the authority to approve buildings on it. Thus even regularisation cannot take place.”

Rampur Chief Fire Officer V K Singh says they inspected the university “as part of a regular drive” and found that “buildings of various heights did not have adequate fire safety arrangements”. “Thus, on July 7, we asked the administration to make the drawings and maps of these buildings available… So far details have not been provided, so we issued a reminder on July 16.”

Sources said the Fire Department will pursue further action if the university fails to provide appropriate details.

Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, K V Singh says they are within their rights to seek free access to the 3.5-km road going into the university as an “aam rasta”, as “the road was built with Rs 17.17 crore of government funds in 2016, and updated with government funds in 2019”. “There have been complaints and notices in the past as well.”

Fatima says the matter is subjudice and they had paid some funds to ensure the gate can remain closed. “Does the government not construct infrastructure for educational institutions or industry? So how come this road has become such an issue?” she says.

Samajwadi Party Youth wing workers hold a protest against state government on Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, demolition order, in front of state assembly in Lucknow on Monday. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav)

In the case of the Sewage Treatment Plant, the Jal Nigam says it was to be used for adjoining villages as well but instead was used by only the Jauhar University. It estimates the cost of operations and maintenance over 78 months to be about Rs 7.96 crore, with a pending interest of Rs 3.41 crore. “The university was given 15 days to submit this Rs 11.37 crore usage charge,” a senior officer says.

The SP has sought cancellation of the action planned against the university. Leader of the Opposition in the UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pandey, who led an SP delegation to give a memorandum to the Rampur District Magistrate, told The Indian Express: “The action is nothing but political vendetta. They are saying maps should have been approved by the gram panchayat. But there was no such mandatory requirement then… Jauhar University covers two villages, and both came under the jurisdiction of the RDA just two years back.”

In reply, BJP leaders and its allies ask why the SP government did not give proper permissions to the university, when it had cleared it.

The 38 buildings facing demolition include those housing the Faculties of Islamic Studies, Law, Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities and Science, the Department of Pharmacy, as well as students’ hostels, the Rabindranath Tagore Auditorium, the Mumtaz Central Library, a gym, and also the “mosque-like structures”.

The university is believed to have spent crores on the buildings, taking inspiration for their architecture from famous structures across the world, including apparently the White House and Taj Mahal. “Each of these buildings was built with much thought, they are not merely structures,” says Fatima.

On questions about the “mosque-like structures”, she says: “Since people lived on the campus, a mosque was established.”

Officials say the trust has the option of either approaching court or appealing to Anjaney Kumar Singh, the Chairman of the Rampur Development Authority, who is also the Moradabad Commissioner. Incidentally, Anjaney Kumar was the Rampur District Magistrate when Azam Khan told his supporters in an election speech to not be afraid of officers like the Collector as they are mere salaried people.

“All this is being done merely out of vengeance,” says Fatima, referring to the nearly hundred cases lodged against Azam Khan, who remains lodged in jail after fresh convictions. “But we will continue to fight.”