Possession Of School Run By Azam Khan's Trust Handed Over To UP Government

The possession of Rampur Public School – run by a trust of Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan – an office of the SP leader, and another where party activities were carried out was handed over to the Secondary Education Department on Friday as per a state cabinet decision, a official said here.

Locks were put on the two buildings in the presence of heavy police force, including the Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Lalta Prasad Shakya and Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sansar Singh.

The possession of both the properties was handed over to the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS) and sealed, the senior official said.

On November 2, the DIOS had issued a notice to vacate the building occupied by Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan's Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust in Rampur.

Earlier on October 31, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet had approved a proposal to take back the ownership of over 41,000 square feet of land given on lease to the Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust and ordered it to be transferred to the Secondary Education Department of the state government.

The ownership of the land has been withdrawn after a panel report on alleged violations of the lease deed, according to a government statement.

The old Murtaza School building located near Rampur Fort, which operated earlier as the office of DIOS, was allotted to Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust at Rs 100 per year when Mr Khan was a minister in the SP government.

Rampur Public School was being run by the trust in the building. Adjacent to it was Mr Khan's office, and the activities of Rampur unit of SP were also conducted from here.

The administration took possession of both these buildings and handed them over to the DIOS, the official said.

SP's Rampur city unit president Asim Raja lodged a protest against the move, saying his office is separate from the school's land. The local administration said that the SP office was part of the property.

ADM (Administration) Shakya said that the 30-year lease earlier given has been cancelled, and the education department has taken the property under its possession.

Shakya said that according to the tehsil administration and municipality administration both the SP office and the school falls inside the 41,181 square feet area of the property. "We have the measurements of the joint team in which all this is mentioned clearly," he said.

The ASP said that locks have been put on both the properties. He said that while there was no protest on the school land, SP workers and the education department both claimed that it belonged to them.

SP leader Asim Raja, however, said that Rampur Public School building was vacated after the government's order and there was no protest. But the SP office was separate not part of the property and is a rented building, Raja said, adding that it was also forcibly occupied. "No one is ready to listen to us. This is oppression. What can we do?" he said.

Citing the cabinet decision, the DIOS in his notice had directed that the building be vacated within seven days.

According to an official statement, the Uttar Pradesh cabinet on October 31 approved the withdrawal of ownership of over 41,000 sq ft of land leased to jailed SP leader Azam Khan's Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust in Rampur and transferred it to the secondary education department of the state government.

The Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust had got 41,181 square feet of land on lease from the government in February 2007.

Under the aegis of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, the Muhammad Ali Jauhar University was established on the leased land and Mr Khan served as its founder and chancellor. The university was inaugurated by the then chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on September 18, 2012.

The UP government statement said that the ownership of the land has been withdrawn in view of a report by a 4-member investigation committee formed to look into the "violation of the terms of the lease deed related to the land/building given to Maulana Muhammad Ali Jauhar Trust ''.

Azam Khan, his wife Tanzin Fatima and son Abdullah Azam are currently in jail after being convicted by a Rampur court in the fake birth certificate case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)