Rampur admn takes over 70 hectares land of Jauhar Trust

A revenue department team took control of the land as per law

JAGDAMBA PRASAD GUPTA, ADM, Rampur

LUCKNOW: : The district administration of Rampur on Thursday took over 70 hectares of land of the Jauhar Trust (that owns the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University) following a high court order, officials said on Friday.

The Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, of which senior Samajwadi Party member Azam Khan is life-long chairman, bought the 70 acres of land from the government in 2005 at nominal rates. The trust is said to have a total of 74 hectares of land on which the university is established.

A local BJP leader Akash Saxena had filed a complaint in the court of additional district magistrate (ADM), alleging that the Jauhar Trust violated the conditions on which it bought the land from the government. The complaint was submitted in 2018, a year after the BJP came to power in the state. Reportedly, in January this year the ADM court ordered to take back the land from the Jauhar Tust after finding that the trust violated the conditions it agreed to while procuring the land. The Jauhar Trust appealed against this decision in the Allahabad high court. On September 6, the high court refused to entertain the appeal and upheld the decision of the ADM court.

“A team of the revenue department officials visited the land on Thursday and took control of it as per law. We have sent the detailed report to the government for further action,” said Jagdamba Prasad Gupta, ADM of Rampur district.

“The land falls on the university premises and there are some structures constructed on it. The decision about action on the structures will be taken as per the directions from the government,” he added. Representatives of Jauhar Trust could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts.