The Enforcement Directorate’s probe into alleged unexplained construction expenditure at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur has led to an FIR against Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan, the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and several companies and individuals. The case concerns an alleged gap of Rs 416.14 crore between the assessed value of buildings on the campus and the expenditure disclosed by the trust.
The FIR was registered at Azeemnagar police station in Rampur under Sections 61, 316(5) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Sections 7, 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The university campus in Signankheda village, within the Azeem Nagar police station area, is the principal location named in the case.
According to the ED, an Income Tax Department valuation report dated November 10, 2023, assessed the cost of buildings on the campus at Rs 494.46 crore. In contrast, the trust’s income-tax returns for financial years 2013-14 to 2024-25 disclosed capital expenditure of Rs 78.32 crore. The agency has treated the difference of Rs 416.14 crore as unexplained expenditure. The figures represent the agency’s findings and allegations in the investigation, not a court determination.
The ED has alleged that Azam Khan, described in the report as the university’s founder-chancellor and lifetime chairman of the trust, exercised control over its affairs. Statements attributed to trust members Mohd Faseeh Zaidi, Mushtaq Ahmad Siddique and ZR Siddique reportedly indicated that they did not attend executive committee meetings or participate in key decisions.
A major part of the investigation concerns the alleged diversion of public resources to the campus. The agency claimed that contractors, largely based in Rampur, obtained government contracts through Khan’s influence when he was a cabinet minister in Uttar Pradesh and diverted construction material purchased for public works to the university. The ED cited the statement of Pawan Kumar Jain, managing director of Ceekay Associates Pvt Ltd, who allegedly told investigators that his company secured government contracts worth about Rs 186 crore between 2013-14 and 2016-17 and diverted 30-40% of the contract value towards university construction. Using the lower estimate, the agency calculated an alleged diversion of at least Rs 55.8 crore.
The probe also covers three projects executed by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam on the campus: a grand pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital. The projects reportedly received a combined sanction of Rs 23.41 crore, which the ED alleged resulted in public-funded assets being transferred to the private university. A further Rs 6.60 crore was allegedly spent on works inside the campus through MLA and MLC constituency development funds. The agency has put the alleged use of government-linked funds and resources through these routes at Rs 85.81 crore.
Donations to the trust are also under scrutiny. The ED alleged that contractors who benefited from government contracts routed part of their gains to the trust. It cited AS Enterprises, which allegedly secured contracts worth about Rs 25 crore and subsequently donated Rs 40 lakh to the trust. Investigators are also examining Rs 6.235 crore received from KSD Charitable Trust in Meerut and City Educational Social Welfare Society between 2013-14 and 2016-17. The FIR and investigation will determine the legal status of these allegations as the case proceeds.
