Al-Falah moves HC against state takeover, calls administrator order ‘arbitrary’

Gurgaon: Al-Falah University and Al-Falah Charitable Trust have moved the Punjab and Haryana high court against Haryana govt’s decision to place the private university under a state-appointed administrator, calling the action an “unbridled and arbitrary” takeover that strips the institution of its autonomy.In its petition, the minority-run university challenged both the March 18 order appointing IAS officer Amit Aggarwal as administrator and the legal provisions introduced through the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Act, notified on Jan 6.It argued that the amended law allows the govt to assume complete control of a private university under the guise of addressing “grave lapses” relating to national security, public security or law and order.The plea says the powers conferred under sections 44B and 46 of the new act effectively place the university’s management, finances and property in outside hands, with no clear limit on how long such control can continue. Read with other sub-sections, it argues, the law permits the state to retain control even after “normalcy” has been restored, amounting to an effective dissolution or conversion of a private minority institution.

Calling the provisions unconstitutional, the petition invokes Articles 14 and 30, alleging the amendment is “manifestly arbitrary”, fails the test of reasonableness and violates the rights of a minority institution to administer itself. It also challenges two govt communications dated Jan 14, alleging they were issued with “malicious intent” and showed “complete non-application of mind”. The trust has sought quashing of the amended provisions and the related notices.The university told the court the state’s intervention was unjustified because it had already acted against those allegedly involved in the incident that triggered the crackdown. In the petition, it said four faculty members linked to the Nov 10 blast near Red Fort were terminated immediately after their alleged involvement came to light. It described the episode as a “completely unforeseeable” turn and said it acted promptly, responsibly and transparently.Al-Falah was at the centre of a white-coat terror module behind the Delhi blast that killed 15 persons. The petition names the terminated faculty members as Nisarul Hassan, Umar-un-Nabi, Shaheen Saeed and Muzammil Shakeel. While Umar-un-Nabi, an assistant professor, was alleged to have driven the explosives-laden car, two other faculty members were arrested for storing large quantities of ammonium nitrate.The case was filed in Feb. When it first came up, the high court noted that the state had already entered appearance on advance notice and asked it to file a detailed reply within six weeks. The bench also allowed the petitioners to implead the Union home ministry as a respondent. On the question of vires, the court issued notice, signalling that it would examine the constitutional validity of the 2025 amendment. For now, it said the petitioners could reply to any show-cause notices, while authorities could continue proceedings in accordance with the law.At the latest hearing on April 6, the court granted more time to both the Centre and the state to file replies. The matter will now be heard on May 5.The state’s intervention followed an inquiry by IAS officer Shyamal Misra, which found statutory violations and irregularities in the university’s functioning. After taking control, the govt said teaching would continue uninterrupted for around 1,700 students, while administrative and financial affairs would be handled by the administrator and a team drawn from JC Bose University.