ED Apprehends Samajwadi Party Leader Azam Khan in Money Laundering Case

ED Apprehends Azam Khan in Money Laundering Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday apprehended Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan in connection with its ongoing money-laundering investigation relating to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, officials said. Azam Khan was apprehended soon after he was released from Rampur Jail. He will be produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghaziabad tomorrow.

Officials said that a team from the ED’s Lucknow zonal office reached Rampur district jail before his release and apprehended him soon after he came out of the jail premises. On October 13, the agency had also questioned Azam Khan in Rampur Jail in the same case. He was questioned in the barrack where the leader was lodged.

Details of the Investigation

The federal agency then recorded Azam Khan’s statement as part of its probe into alleged diversion of government contract funds through private contractors and their subsequent utilisation, including for creation of assets of Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University. The move comes almost two-and-a-half months after the federal agency conducted searches at ten premises linked to Azam Khan in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi in connection with the case under Section 17 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

The search operation was launched on August 19, covering premises in Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur and Saharanpur, as well as Delhi. The premises then searched included Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University linked to Azam Khan. Founded by Azam Khan in 2006, Mohammad Ali Jauhar University is a private university in Rampur.

Allegations of Financial Mismanagement

ED said its investigation has so far revealed: “financial transactions between certain contractors and the trust and contractors allegedly benefiting from Government contracts diverted funds towards the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust and Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, including substantial donations and construction works.” EF is investigating the case to trace the proceeds of crime, financial records, documents and digital evidence relating to alleged diversion and utilisation of government funds.

Azam Khan has been sentenced to two years in prison in a case related to his alleged “cleaning shoes” objectionable remark against government officials, including the then Collector-cum-District Magistrate, during the 2019 Lok Sabha election campaign. A 10-time MLA from Rampur Sadar and former Cabinet minister, Azam Khan has been one of the Samajwadi Party’s most prominent Muslim faces and a long-standing influential figure. He has been lodged in Rampur district jail since November last year after his conviction in a forgery case.

Attachment of University Assets

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached the land and building of Samajwadi Party leader Mohammad Azam Khan’s Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, with a book value of Rs 426 crore and an estimated current market value of Rs 1,170 crore, the agency said on Wednesday. The apprehension comes days after the agency on October 28 attached the land and building of Azam Khan’s Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, with a book value of Rs 426 crore and an estimated current market value of Rs 1,170 crore.

ED’s Lucknow zonal office had attached the Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur-based land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA), in connection with a money laundering case against Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, Azam Khan (former Cabinet Minister of Uttar Pradesh government), and others. The University campus at Jauhar Nagar in Singhankhera village of Rampur district is held by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which was founded and is controlled by Azam Khan, who is also the honorary Chancellor of the University.

ED initiated an investigation under PMLA on the basis of 26 FIRs registered at Police Station Azeem Nagar in Rampur under Section 384 of Indian Penal Code and other sections, alleging that agricultural land of farmers was forcibly taken over for the University. Citing the inquiry report of the Rampur district administration, ED has said, 45 plots of enemy property measuring about 34 acres at Singhankhera village were also illegally occupied by Azam Khan for the University, even after the lease of this land to the Trust had been cancelled by the custodian.

“The possession of this land has been taken back by the custodian of Enemy Property, MHA, through the District Administration, Rampur,” the agency statement earlier said. During the investigation, ED has found that “funds meant for public works were diverted to the University, government works were executed on its private campus, and funds from contractors who had been allotted government contracts were routed back to the Trust as donations.”

ED shared this information with the Uttar Pradesh Police under Section 66(2) of PMLA, on the basis of which FIR No. 0224/2026 dated October 13, 2026 was registered at Azeem Nagar Police Station against Azam Khan, the Trust and others under Sections 61, 316(5) and 318(4) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. ED has also taken up 28 other FIRs registered by the Rampur Police against Azam Khan and others for investigation, in most of which charge-sheets have been filed.

These FIRs and chargesheets allege that, during 2016, the houses of several families in Rampur city, many of them tenants of Waqf property, were demolished with bulldozers by a mob allegedly led by the then Circle Officer and others on the instructions of Azam Khan. ED has said that the occupants were assaulted, threatened with false criminal cases, and robbed of their cash, jewellery and cattle. “The debris of the demolished houses was transported to the University.”

The FIRs and chargesheets further allege that cleaning machinery purchased for the Rampur Nagar Palika was diverted to the University premises. Investigation under PMLA revealed that contractors, mostly based in Rampur, diverted funds and construction material from the government contracts to the construction of the University. ED has said the managing director of one such company, which received PWD contracts worth about Rs 186 crore, admitted that 30 to 40 per cent of the contract value was used to buy construction material for the University. “The partners of another firm admitted that they operated under the influence of Azam Khan, and the firm donated Rs 40 lakh to the Trust.”

It is also revealed that, in similar findings, the Income Tax Department has revoked the registration of the Trust under the provisions of the Income Tax Act, 1961. “Investigation further revealed that various works worth Rs 6.60 crore were executed on the private campus of the University out of the MLA/MLC local area development funds. These works were executed by the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, of which Azam Khan was then the Chairman. “The Trust also received donations of Rs 6.24 crore from two Meerutbased educational entities through political influence. It was also found that sanctions of Rs 23.41 crore were given by the government of Uttar Pradesh for the construction of a pandal, an OBC boys’ hostel and a hospital block in the private campus of the University,” the agency has said.

The government order of 2015 sanctioning Rs 12.16 crore for the pandal stipulated that its ownership would remain with the Culture Department of Uttar Pradesh’s government; that it could not be sold or transferred; and that it would be made available free of cost for the use of the state government, it has also said. However, by a subsequent order in 2016, ED said, these conditions were altered. “The ownership of the pandal was transferred to the Jauhar University, and the condition for use by the state government was deleted. A public asset built with state funds was thus converted into the private property of the University,” it said.

In 2015 and 2016, when these orders were issued, the federal agency stated that Azam Khan was a Cabinet Minister in the Uttar Pradesh government holding the portfolios of Urban Development and the Uttar Pradesh Jal Nigam, which executed these works on the campus, functioned under his Urban Development Department. “The District Valuation Officer, who is an independent valuer, in his report dated November 10, 2023, has assessed the cost of construction of the 59 buildings on the University campus at Rs 494.46 crore. The land of the University, acquired through 114 sale deeds, was valued at Rs. 4.63 crore. The total cost of the campus is therefore Rs 499.09 C crore,” it mentioned.

Against this, the agency said, the Trust has shown capital expenditure of only Rs 178.32 crore in its Income Tax Returns. “Further, out of this amount of Rs 78.32 crore, donations of Rs 12.29 crore were found to be non-genuine, which leaves only Rs. 66.03 crore as genuine expenditure by the Trust for construction of buildings and acquisition of land for the University.” In all, ED said, only Rs 72.63 crore of the cost of the campus is explained from legitimate sources. “Investigation thus revealed that the balance of Rs. 426.46 crore is the proceeds of crime in this case, which was generated by illegitimate means.”

The office-bearers of the Trust could not substantiate the source of this amount of Rs 426.46 crore, which is proceeds of crime in this case, said the ED Therefore, it said, the land and buildings of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University to the extent of Rs 426.46 crore, having a current market value of approximately Rs 1,170 crore, have been provisionally attached under the provisions of PMLA. Earlier in the instant case, ED had conducted searches on August 19 at the premises of the University and related premises, during which electronic devices and incriminating records were seized. (ANI)

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