Today, the Supreme Court declined to intervene in the Uttar Pradesh Government's decision to annul the lease of government land granted to the Maulana Mohamad Ali Jauhar Trust in Rampur.

A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra dismissed a petition filed by the Trust, which was established by Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan. The Trust had challenged the cancellation of the lease deed dated February 4, 2015, after the Allahabad High Court dismissed its plea on March 18, 2024, regarding the government's decision made on March 31, 2023.

During the proceedings, the bench urged government officials to ensure that students from the school operating on the leased land are accommodated in alternative suitable institutions.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Trust, argued that the lease cancellation was made without justification. However, CJI Chandrachud raised concerns about the legitimacy of the original lease, which was granted during Azam Khan's tenure as a minister, highlighting that the trust is privately managed with Khan as a lifetime member.

"While reading the judgment, it appears that your client(Azam Khan) was actually the cabinet minister in charge of the Ministry of Urban Development and he was the Minister for Minority Welfare. He got the land allotted to a family trust of which he is a lifetime member...and the lease initially was in favour of a government institute that is tagged to a private trust. How can a lease which was for a government institute be given to a private trust?", CJI asked.

Saying that he was not disputing the facts, Sibal highlighted that the petitioner was not given proper notice. "I am not disputing any of these. The issue is this. If they had given me a notice and reasons, I could have responded to it. Because, ultimately, the matter went to the cabinet. The Chief Minister took the decision. It's not just that I took the decision," Sibal said.

Chief Justice of India remarked that the case's facts clearly indicate a misuse of office, suggesting that when the facts are so evident, a lack of proper notice may not constitute a significant infraction.

"It is a misue of the office of the...initially when I started reading, I said, alright, look at notice, were you given an opportunity...but when you see these facts, what else...," CJI said.

However, Sibal argued that the cancellation of the lease was made in bad faith, emphasizing that the Trust was providing education to underprivileged students at concessional rates. He noted that five percent of the students were receiving education for just twenty rupees. "The exams were scheduled for March 18, yet they took possession on March 14. This is a not-for-profit organization, and now 300 students are left without a school," he added.

The bench dismissed the petition saying that there is no infirmity in the High Court's judgment. "Responding to the plea of the senior counsel that there are about 300 students studying in the school who have not been admitted to any alternate school, we would request the Secretary in the Department of School Education or as the case may be the competent authority of the State of Uttar Pradesh, to look into the above grievance and to ensure that no child is denied admission to a suitableeducational institution," the bench added in the order.

Before the High Court, the Uttar Pradesh Government stated that the land allocated to the Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Technical and Research Institute was leased to the Trust, which was operating a CBSE school on that land, intended for higher education purposes.