Aligarh, The face-off between the Aligarh Muslim University and the local municipal corporation over a prime 3.8-acre plot eased after the district magistrate ordered status quo in the matter till the sub-divisional magistrate's court where the ownership dispute is pending arrived at a decision.
"Since both the contending parties are government institutions, it would not be appropriate that any confrontation exists. The matter should be resolved amicably through due process of law," District Magistrate Avinash Kumar told reporters on Friday.
"The plot of land would remain in possession of the university till the SDM decides on the matter," he added.
The dispute erupted on Thursday when municipal officials began fencing the plot, which is part of the AMU Riding Club grounds.
The university had termed the action "forcible occupation", while the civic body claimed its records show that the land has belonged to it for the past 40 years.
A senior AMU official said the university submitted before the DM the original 1923 land title and gazette notification issued by the United Provinces government, besides documents issued by the governor of Uttar Pradesh in 1940 mentioning allotment of the land to AMU.
The official alleged that the land records were tampered with in 1992 and said the university learnt about it only in 2003.
{{/usCountry}}The official alleged that the land records were tampered with in 1992 and said the university learnt about it only in 2003.
{{/usCountry}}In a statement, AMU said it had approached the SDM court on March 29, 2025, and the matter is pending.
"The manner in which the entire sequence was carried out surreptitiously in cover of darkness certainly raises suspicions about the intent of this move," an AMU official said.
Rahat Abrar, former head of AMU Public Relations Department, said the university has received large tracts of land since the late 19th century but successive administrations had failed to adequately safeguard its properties.
"AMU Property Department has been a picture of negligence and decay," he said, adding that several internal representative bodies of the university remained defunct for years.
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