The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has got a fresh FIR registered against jailed Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister Azam Khan following its findings of alleged financial irregularities at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, including the suspected diversion of government funds for its construction.
The FIR was registered at Azeem Nagar police station in Rampur on Tuesday, after an ED team questioned Khan for more than eight hours inside Rampur jail about the finances of the university and the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust that runs it. The case followed information shared by the ED’s Lucknow zonal office with the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 66(2) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
According to available police records, 112 cases have been registered against Khan. Judgments have been delivered in at least 16 cases, resulting in his conviction in eight.
Reacting to the fresh FIR, SP spokesperson Udaiveer Singh on Wednesday accused central investigative agencies of targeting Opposition leaders at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He alleged that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), ED and other agencies had been reduced to “affiliate organisations” of the BJP and were operating with a “negative mindset” to damage opposition leaders’ reputations and harass their families and supporters.
Singh said such actions were bringing disrepute to institutions established to serve a public purpose.
{{/usCountry}}Singh said such actions were bringing disrepute to institutions established to serve a public purpose.
{{/usCountry}}₹416 crore construction-cost gap
A valuation report prepared by the district valuation officer in November 2023 assessed the construction cost of buildings on the university campus at ₹494.46 crore. However, the trust reported capital expenditure of ₹78.32 crore in its income-tax returns for 2013-14 to 2024-25, leaving a difference of ₹416.14 crore, according to the ED’s communication to the police.
The agency also flagged ₹85.81 crore in government-funded resources allegedly diverted or used for the university.
In a statement recorded on September 18, Pawan Kumar Jain, managing director of Ceekay Associates Pvt Ltd, reportedly told the ED that his company secured government contracts worth about ₹186 crore between 2013-14 and 2016-17 through Khan’s influence. He allegedly said 30-40% of the contract amount was diverted to purchase construction material for the university. The ED estimated that at least ₹55.8 crore could have been diverted through the company.
The agency also flagged ₹23.41 crore sanctioned by the state government for three campus projects — a grand pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital — executed by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam’s CDS Unit-18.
According to the ED, a government order initially required the pandal to remain under the ownership of the state culture department and be available free of cost for official use. A subsequent order in October 2016 transferred its ownership to the university. The agency additionally cited works worth ₹6.60 crore allegedly undertaken on the campus using MLA/MLC constituency development funds.
Donations and trust control
The ED is examining whether donations to the trust were linked to reciprocal arrangements involving contractors who benefited from government contracts.
It cited a donation of ₹40 lakh by AS Enterprises in September 2015, after the company secured contracts worth about ₹25 crore. The agency also flagged ₹6.235 crore donated by KSD Charitable Trust, Meerut, and City Educational Social Welfare Society between 2013-14 and 2016-17, alleging that the contributions were not genuine.
Three trust members — Mohd Faseeh Zaidi, Mushtaq Ahmad Siddique and ZR Siddique — reportedly told the ED that they had neither received notices for executive committee meetings nor participated in its decisions. According to the agency’s communication, they said Khan controlled the trust’s finances.
The ED sought police action under sections 61, 316(5) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and sections 7, 13(1)(d) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The ED’s wider money-laundering investigation originated from 27 FIRs registered in Rampur — 26 at Azeem Nagar police station and one at Kotwali police station — concerning the alleged illegal acquisition of land belonging to 26 farmers and government enemy property for the university. The agency subsequently registered an ECIR in 2019 and initiated a probe under the PMLA.