Samajwadi Party Senior Leader Azam Khan. (Express Photo by Vishal Srivastav/File)
The Allahabad High Court on Thursday sought the stand of senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan on a plea accusing him of utilising over Rs 2,000 crore of the government money in setting up a private university during his tenure as a state minister.
Besides seeking Khan’s stand on Rampur native Abdul Salam’s plea, the bench of Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice Yashwant Varma also sought the reply of Rampur-based Mohammad Ali Jauhar University. The bench sought Khan’s reply dismissing his counsel contention that the Public Interest Litigation was not maintainable.
During the hearing of the petition, UP Additional Advocate General Manish Goel submitted to the bench that considering the seriousness of allegation, the state government has formed a Special investigation Team to probe into the matter.
While issuing notices to Khan and the university, the bench made it clear that the pendency of the plea would not come in the way of ongoing probe into the case.
Appearing for petitioner, advocate Anil Tiwari argued that Khan was the PWD minister in the SP government and had utilized all the public fund within the premises of the Jauhar University.
He said a luxurious guest house was built inside the university campus, but it was not accessible to the public.
The petition also alleged that besides investing more than Rs 2,000 crores of public money in the university, about 10 square kilometer area of Koshi river has been encroached within the university campus.
The court also directed the state government to produce the record and inform the bench as to how many VIPs stayed in the university guest house during the last one year.
It was also alleged by the petitioner that an “enemy property” situated in the area too has been enclosed in the university premises. The court ordered to list the case after three weeks.