NEW DELHI : The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Uttar Pradesh government’s takeover of the land of the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur.

A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and C.T. Ravikumar passed the interim order while issuing notice to the UP government on a plea by the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust.

The plea was filed against the Allahabad High Court order, which declined to interfere with the direction of Additional District Magistrate, Rampur, to take back nearly 400 acres of land, which was allotted to the university. The Trust is run by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan.

The Samajwadi Party government in 2005, enacted the Mohammad Ali Jauhar University Act, which paved the way for the setting up of the university. The state government allowed the Trust to acquire 400 acres of land against the ceiling of 12.5 acres for setting up the university. The government had imposed certain conditions, one of which was that the land would only be used for educational purposes.

In September last year, the high court declined to entertain the plea filed by the Trust seeking a direction to quash a report submitted by Sub-Divisional Magistrate in March 2020. The plea also sought quashing of ADM’s order passed in January last year.

The high court cited the SDM’s report that a mosque was constructed over the land which was granted only for educational purposes, and this is a violation of the state government’s permission.