NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the UP BJP govt's decision in Feb 2023 to cancel the allocation of a prime land plot and a building in Rampur that had been leased at a nominal rent to the ' Maulana Mohd Ali Jauhar Trust ', run by the family of SP leader Azam Khan, while terming the 2012 allocation by the Akhilesh Yadav govt "a gross misuse of power".
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Trust, told a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the Feb 2023 decision was a gross illegality as the Trust was not intimated about the alleged grounds of irregularities and no opportunity was accorded to it to respond to the allegations. "There was a complete breach of principles of natural justice by this unilateral and arbitrary decision of the state govt," he said.
The CJI-led bench said Azam Khan, who is the founder trustee, was minister for urban development and minority affairs (in the Akhilesh Singh govt). "He allotted the land and building to the family trust in which he is a member. How can land belonging to a govt body be transferred to a private body? This is a gross case of misuse of power by the minister," the bench said.
Sibal said, "I do not dispute the facts. If the allotment was mala fide, the cancellation of the lease too was mala fide and politically motivated. The trust was operating a school which provided education to poor students and charging an annual fee of Rs 20. It was not used for profiteering. There are 300 students in the school who have not been able to take admission in other schools."
Refuting the allegation that Khan had played a pivotal role in the allocation of land and building to his family trust, Sibal said, it was a cabinet note approved by the cabinet headed by the then CM (Akhilesh Yadav - March 15, 2012, to March 19, 2017).
The bench dismissed the trust's appeal against an Allahabad HC order validating the cancellation of leasing out of govt land and building to the private trust but requested the education department of the state to examine the grievance of students not getting admitted to other schools and ensure that their rights under the RTE Act are not violated.
HC had said, "Khan himself approved the cabinet note and played an active role in getting it approved. Also, he himself determined and fixed the premium of Rs 10,007 for the valuable property, valued at Rs 20.44 crore, and a paltry sum of Rs 100 as annual lease. Being minister in the same department, he had full control over the file and its movement. He regretfully used his influence at every stage, camouflaging it behind public interest in a brazen misuse of power to perpetuate personal gains."
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Trust, told a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra that the Feb 2023 decision was a gross illegality as the Trust was not intimated about the alleged grounds of irregularities and no opportunity was accorded to it to respond to the allegations. "There was a complete breach of principles of natural justice by this unilateral and arbitrary decision of the state govt," he said.
The CJI-led bench said Azam Khan, who is the founder trustee, was minister for urban development and minority affairs (in the Akhilesh Singh govt). "He allotted the land and building to the family trust in which he is a member. How can land belonging to a govt body be transferred to a private body? This is a gross case of misuse of power by the minister," the bench said.
Sibal said, "I do not dispute the facts. If the allotment was mala fide, the cancellation of the lease too was mala fide and politically motivated. The trust was operating a school which provided education to poor students and charging an annual fee of Rs 20. It was not used for profiteering. There are 300 students in the school who have not been able to take admission in other schools."
Refuting the allegation that Khan had played a pivotal role in the allocation of land and building to his family trust, Sibal said, it was a cabinet note approved by the cabinet headed by the then CM (Akhilesh Yadav - March 15, 2012, to March 19, 2017).
The bench dismissed the trust's appeal against an Allahabad HC order validating the cancellation of leasing out of govt land and building to the private trust but requested the education department of the state to examine the grievance of students not getting admitted to other schools and ensure that their rights under the RTE Act are not violated.
HC had said, "Khan himself approved the cabinet note and played an active role in getting it approved. Also, he himself determined and fixed the premium of Rs 10,007 for the valuable property, valued at Rs 20.44 crore, and a paltry sum of Rs 100 as annual lease. Being minister in the same department, he had full control over the file and its movement. He regretfully used his influence at every stage, camouflaging it behind public interest in a brazen misuse of power to perpetuate personal gains."
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