The Madhya Pradesh high court has put on hold the Mhow Cantonment Board’s demolition notice at the ancestral house of Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chancellor of Al-Falah University, now under the lens of the Delhi blast investigation.
The order came on Thursday, a day after Siddiqui’s arrest by the Enforcement Directorate on November 18, following raids on the university and associated individuals.
The Cantonment Board had issued a notice on November 19, giving occupants three days to remove what it called “unauthorised construction” or face demolition and recovery of costs from the legal heirs or residents.
Abdul Majid, 59, a resident of the house, challenged the notice, stating Siddiqui had gifted him the property in 2021 under hiba, an Islamic gift, after the death of his father, Hammad Ahmed. Majid claims ownership based on the hibanama.
Majid’s lawyer, Ajay Bagadia, told the High Court: “The petitioner should be given an opportunity to be heard.” The Board’s lawyer, Ashutosh Nimgaonkar, argued that previous notices had gone unanswered, and no further time should be granted.
Justice Pranay Verma noted, “From a perusal of the impugned notice, it appears that though earlier notices were issued to the petitioner but they were in the year 1996/1997 i.e. almost 30 years ago, and thereafter, now the impugned notice has been issued. If any action was to be taken against the petitioner after a period of almost 30 years from the date of issuance of the previous notice, he ought to have been afforded an opportunity of hearing. Thus, in the available facts of the case, it is directed that the petitioner should file his reply along with all relevant documents before the respondents/competent authority within a period of 15 days from today. Thereafter, the petitioner shall be afforded due opportunity of hearing, and a reasoned and speaking order in the matter shall be passed. Till the said exercise is completed and for a period of ten days thereafter, in case the order is against the petitioner, no coercive action shall be taken against him. Without expressing any opinion on merits, the petition stands disposed of.”
Siddiqui, a native of Mhow, is at the centre of a growing investigation that spans multiple states. His father, Hammad Ahmed, served as the town qazi for decades, and the house in question, number 1371 in Mukeri Mohalla, remains listed in his name.