Al-falah university: Court takes note of police charge sheet

A Delhi court has taken cognisance of two Delhi Police chargesheets against the chairman of Al-Falah group accusing him of displaying false accreditation on the university’s website and misleading thousands of students, noting that prima facie offences of cheating and forgery are made out against the accused

A Delhi court has taken cognisance of two Delhi Police chargesheets against the chairman of Al-Falah group accusing him of displaying false accreditation on the university’s website and misleading thousands of students, noting that prima facie offences of cheating and forgery are made out against the accused.

The chargesheets, filed by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch, stem from two FIRs lodged over alleged irregularities in the accreditation of Al-Falah University in Faridabad (HT)

Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Tapasya Agarwal of Saket courts passed the order on April 4. A copy of the order was released on Wednesday.

The chargesheets, filed by the Delhi Police’s Crime Branch, stem from two FIRs lodged over alleged irregularities in the accreditation of Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana. The university first came under the scanner in November last year for its links with those involved in the bomb blast outside Red Fort in the national capital.

One of the FIRs filed by the Delhi Police accuses the university of cheating students and stakeholders by falsely claiming recognition and approval by the University Grants Commission (UGC) on its official website, thereby issuing forged certificates to students. The second FIR pertains to an allegedly fake NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) displayed by the university, misleading thousands of students.

The investigators claim that the university continued to advertise recognition even after it had lapsed to allegedly deceive students and regulators.

“The accused has issued forged and fabricated certificates to the students of the university displaying such false status and also issued official documents curtailing such status,” police told the court.

Both the cases invoke the same criminal sections of cheating and forgery. In a common observation, the court said, “Prima facie, ingredients of offence u/s 318 (cheating) 336 (forgery) and 340 (Forged document or electronic record and using it as genuine) BNS are made out. Cognisance of the offence is taken”.

During the proceedings, prosecutor Anand Kumar Goyal told the court that, according to the official UGC record, Al-Falah University never applied for NAAC nor had it been declared fit under section 12(B) of the UGC Act, Despite this, it allegedly claimed on its website that it was a recognised university.

Police said that even the NAAC accreditation of the university’s affiliated institutions expired in 2018.

The prosecutor argued, “In its reply, the university attributed the issue to a hacking incident, however, no documents were produced to substantiate the claim”.

Police further argued that the instructions to remove the claims were directly issued by chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddique.

Police submitted that details of nearly 1,400 students were obtained from the university, who allegedly stated that before taking admission, they had checked the official website of the university where UGC and NAAC Grade A recognition was prominently displayed and they were impressed by the claim which influenced their decision to take admission by paying a fee of ₹1 lakh.

The court has listed the matter for May 8 for scrutiny of documents.

Siddique is also being probed in two money laundering cases lodged by Enforcement Directorate, in one of which the federal agency claims that Siddique acquired large proceeds of crime using forged documents to run educational programmes in his university. A chargesheet has already been filed in this case and cognisance is yet to be taken.

The other case pertains to an alleged illegal acquisition of land in the Madanpur Khadar area wherein ED claims that Siddique allegedly obtained a land worth ₹45 crores using forged paperwork. Siddique was arrested in this case in March this year.