Funding under lens: Documents sought from Al-Falah University

Delhi Police summons Al-Falah University over a cheating probe, seeking documents on funding and accreditation amid ongoing investigations into its management.

Delhi Police has issued two summons to the administration of Al-Falah University seeking documents linked to an ongoing cheating and forgery probe, and to verify the institution’s funding sources, officials aware of the matter said on Monday.

Al-Falah University in Faridabad. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

A senior officer said a police team visited the campus on Saturday and served two notices under Section 94 of the BNSS, which empowers investigators to demand documents, electronic communications, or material relevant to an inquiry. Police have asked the university to furnish records related to Section 12B of the University Grants Commission Act and its accreditation from the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

The university, police said, claimed 12B status – which allows institutions to receive central grants – despite UGC informing investigators that Al-Falah did not hold the approval.

Investigators have also sought details of students and faculty members. Once documents are examined, police will move to trace Al-Falah’s funding channels, and other central agencies may be brought in, one of the officers cited above said.

The Crime Branch registered two FIRs against the university on Friday, prompting Saturday’s visit. Police said chairman Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, who founded the university and heads its management, has spent 37 months in jail in the past. He faced a money-circulation fraud case in 2000 involving alleged diversion of investor funds, though he was acquitted in 2005.

In a parallel development, Madhya Pradesh Police arrested Siddiqui’s brother, Hamood Siddiqui, 50, on Sunday. Hamood, who worked for a stock market investment firm in Hyderabad, was traced to Mhow after he was found missing from both his Delhi and MP residences following the recent blast.

Delhi Police said he had evaded arrest for 25 years despite multiple fraud cases filed in Indore, and earlier cases of attempted murder and rioting from the late 1980s. No terror links have been established so far, police added.