SC stays Allahabad HC's order on taking possession of lands used for Azam Khan's Jauhar University

The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the directions issued by the Allahabad High Court, which allowed the district authorities to take possession of parts of land used for running Jauhar University by Samajwadi party leader Azam Khan, as condition of bail to him in a land grabbing case.

Hearing a plea by Khan, a vacation bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Bela M Trivedi said the bail condition imposed by the High Court was disproportionate and had no reasonable nexus with the object of securing his presence or to ensure trial is not obstructed.

The bench said the High Court's order sounds like a civil court decree.

The top court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government and fixed the matter for hearing after summer vacation.

In his brief submission, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing Khan, contended that District Magistrate Rampur has issued a notice to vacate the university's buildings, making it apparent that there was an attempt to demolish it.

Earlier this week, the top court had agreed to examine Khan’s plea against the direction issued by the High Court on May 10. Khan’s counsel had claimed that the directions were issued to demolish a part of the university.

While granting bail to Khan in the case related to grabbing enemy property and then using the land for the university, the High Court had issued directions to the District Magistrate to take possession of the property attached to the campus by June 30, 2022.

The High Court also issued a direction to raise a boundary wall with barbed wire around it.

On May 19, the top court had invoked its extraordinary jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution to grant interim bail to former Uttar Pradesh Minister Khan, after noting that he had already been ordered to be released in 87 cases but was "implicated" only recently in an FIR lodged on September 10, 2020.