New Delhi, Oct 14 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the cancellation of a land lease belonging to Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University run by a trust headed by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra upheld the order of the Allahabad High Court which had rejected the plea filed by the executive committee of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust against the cancellation of the land lease by the Uttar Pradesh government.
The state government had cancelled the lease for the 3.24 acre plot allotted to the trust citing violations of lease conditions, alleging that it was originally allotted for a research institute but a school was being run there.
"It appears he (Azam Khan) was actually the cabinet minister in-charge of the Ministry of Urban Development and was the minister for Minority Welfare. He got the land allotted to a family trust of which he is a lifetime member. The lease was initially in favour of a government institute that is tagged to a private trust. How can a lease, which was (meant) for a government institute be given to a private trust? It is a misuse of the office," the bench noted.
The top court, however, took note of submissions of senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the trust, and asked the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure that no child was denied admission to a suitable educational institution.
Sibal argued that the decision to cancel the lease in 2023 was taken without assigning any reasons.
"If they had given me a notice and reasons, I could have responded to it. Because, ultimately, the matter went to the cabinet. The chief minister took the decision (on land allotment). It's not just that I took the decision," Sibal said.
On March 18, the high court had rejected the trust's plea challenging the state government order on the cancellation of the land lease.
The executive committee of the trust had then submitted that the lease deed was cancelled without providing any opportunity of hearing.
Appearing on behalf of the state in the high court, the advocate general had defended the cancellation of the lease without a show-cause notice on the grounds that public interest was of paramount consideration. It was argued that the land, which was acquired for the purpose of higher learning (a research institute) was being used to run a school.
The advocate general had cited the report of a Special Investigation Team to state that sufficient opportunity was given to the petitioner to respond before the cancellation of the lease.
The state called it a case of "nepotism" where the cabinet minister was the chairman of the private trust that was running the institution and he granted all approvals by bypassing the procedures prescribed in law.