New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged that Al-Falah University chancellor Javed Ahmed Siddiqui fraudulently acquired land in Delhi’s Madanpur Khadar by using forged documents belonging to Hindu landowners who had died decades earlier.
The disclosure comes as the agency expands its investigation into the wider financial and institutional irregularities linked to the ongoing Delhi car blast case.
ED alleges fake GPA used to transfer Delhi land
According to the ED, land in Khasra No 792 was transferred to the Tarbia Education Foundation, a trust linked to Siddiqui, on the basis of a General Power of Attorney dated January 7, 2004. The agency said that several individuals listed as landowners had died between 1972 and 1998, yet the GPA was created in their names and later used to reregister the property. The ED has termed the transfer fraudulent, alleging that the fake document formed the foundation of the acquisition. A GPA allows one person to act and sign on behalf of another in broad legal and financial matters.
Siddiqui, who remains in ED custody, was arrested on November 18 under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. His arrest followed search operations at premises linked to the Al-Falah group during the probe recorded under PMLA. The agency described the case as part of its action against what it calls a white-collar terror module.
Raids, shell firms and earlier FIRs under scrutiny
The investigation intensified after the alleged involvement of three Al-Falah University professors in the i20 car blast near Delhi’s Red Fort on November 10. The prime accused, Dr Umar Un Nabi, is a former student of the university. The ED recently conducted raids at 25 locations across the capital, including the university’s Okhla office, and placed nine shell firms registered at the same address under scrutiny.
The probe began on the basis of two FIRs registered by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. The FIRs alleged that Al-Falah University made fraudulent claims of NAAC accreditation and falsely asserted UGC recognition under Section 12(B) with intent to deceive students, parents and stakeholders. The UGC has clarified that the institution figures only under Section 2(f) as a state private university, has never applied for inclusion under Section 12(B), and is not eligible for grants under that provision.
