In a huge setback to Samajwadi Party MP Azam Khan, the Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi Adityanath government on Friday took back the possession of 70 hectares (173 acres) of land from Mohammad Ali Jauhar University.
“The high court had rejected an appeal against the eviction process. Today, we have come here to take possession. The team completed the process of taking possession of about 173 acres of land,” Tehsildar (Sadar) Pramod Kumar was quoted by news agency ANI.
Earlier, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court had dismissed a petition by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which prayed for the quashing of a report submitted by the SDM in March 2020.
According to news agency PTI, the high court had cited the SDM’s report to raise objections on the construction of a mosque over the land, which the report claimed was only meant for educational purposes.
“It is a case where a large part of the land has been purchased as well as a certain part of the land belonging to tenure holders and Gram Sabha has been encroached upon by a former Cabinet Minister of the state for establishing an educational institution pursuant to an Act which has come up in the year 2005,” the high court had said.
Azam Khan is the president of the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, while his wife Tazeen Fatima is the secretary and son Abdullah Azam Khan an active member.
Both Azam Khan and his son are currently in Sitapur Jail since February last year. Although the Allahabad High Court had granted bail to Tazeen Fatma in all 34 cases, Azam Khan and his son continue to remain behind bars.
It was in 2005 when the then Samajwadi Party government had enacted the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Act, paving the way for the creation of the university. Notably, Azam Khan was a senior cabinet minister of that government.
