ED attaches Jauhar University land, buildings worth Rs 1,170 crore

The Enforcement Directorate has provisionally attached land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur with an estimated current market value of around Rs 1,170 crore as part of a money-laundering investigation against the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, Samajwadi Party leader and former Uttar Pradesh minister Mohammad Azam Khan, and others.

The ED said the attached properties represent alleged proceeds of crime valued at Rs 426.46 crore under the PMLA. The probe stems from 26 FIRs alleging that farmers were coerced into surrendering agricultural land for the university and that 45 plots of enemy property were illegally occupied. The agency also alleged systematic diversion of government funds and resources, including Rs 6.60 crore from MLA/MLD funds spent on the campus through UP Jal Nigam, and that a 2016 government order transferred ownership of a government-funded pandal to the university.

A district valuation report assessed construction costs of 59 buildings at Rs 494.46 crore. The ED said the trust declared capital expenditure of only Rs 78.32 crore, of which only Rs 72.63 crore could be explained through legitimate sources, with the balance treated as proceeds of crime. The ED has also taken cognisance of 28 additional criminal cases against Azam Khan, most of which have resulted in charge-sheets.