AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): Expressing serious concern over the Uttar Pradesh administration’s directive to demolish 38 buildings at Mohammad Ali Jauhar University in Rampur, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) on Monday said the issue raises fundamental questions about the rule of law, natural justice, and the state’s constitutional obligations.
Maulana Mahmood Madani, chief of the influential Muslim organisation, said in a statement that the proposed demolition would have far-reaching consequences for the educational future of thousands of students, adversely affecting their fundamental rights, and resulting in the loss of an important institution that is also a valuable national educational asset.
Maulana Madani said that even where violations of planning or building regulations are established, demolition is neither the sole nor the mandatory remedy under the law. Citing Section 27(1) of the Uttar Pradesh Urban Planning and Development Act, 1973, he said the provision permits the competent authority to adopt alternative statutory measures where appropriate.
If a structure does not fundamentally contravene the approved land use or the Master Plan, the authority may consider approval of revised building plans, regularisation, compounding of violations, payment of development charges, or other statutory penalties instead of demolition.
He noted that development authorities across the country have, for years, resolved similar cases through these legal mechanisms. “In the case of an educational institution, justice, the rule of law, and the larger public interest require that all such statutory alternatives be examined before demolition is contemplated,” he said.
Maulana Madani also referred to judicial precedents, including those relating to the engineering college in Kanpur’s Roma Industrial Area and cases involving the Varanasi Development Authority, Jhansi Development Authority, and Allahabad Development Authority, where courts favoured regularisation, compounding, and other statutory corrective measures over immediate demolition.
Maulana Madani urged the Uttar Pradesh Government to reconsider the demolition order and give priority to lawful alternatives that would protect this national educational asset while safeguarding the future of thousands of students.
Your Comment