Jauhar university's 104 bigha land seized in Rampur

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The district administration of Rampur, on Wednesday, seized 104-bigha land inside the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University campus on the directions of revenue board court in Prayagraj. The university was built by Samajwadi Party MP Mohd Azam Khan who is also the chancellor of the university.

The revenue board court had found that rules were flouted in the purchase of plots of land from a group of Dalit farmers.

Deepak Saxena, government counsel at board of revenue in Prayagraj, said, "Uttar Pradesh Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act bars small land-owning Dalits from transferring their land to non-Scheduled Castes. And if they do, it has to be approved by the district administration. No such permission was taken by the Jauhar Trust, run by senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan."

He further said that "The revenue board had quashed the order of the Moradabad Commissioner court, which had granted permission for sale of the land in 2013."

On Wednesday afternoon, the administration also sealed a semi-constructed building inside the varsity campus over non-payment of taxes.

Led by Rampur's sub divisional magistrate (SDM) Prem Prakash Tiwari, a team of officials reached the campus and started the procedure to seize the building and confiscate the land. Rampur's district magistrate Aunjaneya Kumar Singh said that the process to take the possession of the land was started after receiving a copy from the board of revenue, which found that Jauhar Trust flouted the UP Zamindari Abolition and Land Reforms Act while acquiring 104-bigha land.

One of the buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University has also been seized after the Jauhar Trust failed to deposit a cess of Rs 1.37 crore for the construction of the varsity.

Under the Building And Other Construction Workers Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service Act 1996, all buildings, above the cost of Rs 10 lakh, constructed in the state have to pay a cess of 1 per cent to the board that spends it on welfare measures for workers.

The university was established in 2006. Spread in over 500 acres, it is run by Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust.