ED files chargesheet against Al-Falah University head for land grab

The ED filed a chargesheet against Al-Falah University chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and others for acquiring land using forged documents of deceased owners. The proceeds of crime in the land grabbing case have been quantified at Rs 47.76 crore.

The Enforcement Directorate's probe into "fraudulent" acquisition of land for Al-Falah University has reached a significant milestone with the agency filing its prosecution complaint or chargesheet in the case, naming the group chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui among three and Tarbia Education Foundation, a private trust controlled by Siddiqui.

Within three months after the arrest of all key accused, the federal agency filed a prosecution complaint under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 against Al-Falah group chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and two others, namely Vinod Kumar and Shriom Chauhan, along with Tarbia Education Foundation, charging the "fraudulent in the acquisition of land bearing Khasra No. 792 situated at Delhi's Madanpur Khadar village through forged and fabricated documents, including General Powers of Attorney (GPA) and other title documents."

Details of the Chargesheet

In the chargesheet, the ED said the GPAs based on which land was transferred to Tarbia Education Foundation had a date of January 7, 2004, while multiple owners had deceased decades before the year.

The individual accused persons were earlier arrested by the ED during the course of the investigation. ED initiated an investigation based on FIRs registered by Delhi Police under various Sections of IPC, 1860, relating to fraudulent acquisition of land. ED said its investigation in the case also revealed that the accused, "Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and others conspired to forge signatures and thumb impressions of original land owners to illegally grab the land."

"Investigation has also revealed that the GPAs were forged in the year 2012-13 just before the transfer of property to Tarbia Education Foundation." ED mentioned in the chargesheet that Siddiqui also created a facade of banking transactions to project the land grabbing as a genuine transaction in connivance with the other accused. It further noted that "cash transactions were carried out by Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui for this illegal land grabbing", and "the proceeds of crime involved in the matter have been quantified at Rs 47.76 crore."

Arrest and Asset Seizure

ED has also attached the land valued at Rs 45.84 crore, which was illegally held by Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui and Tarbia Education Foundation. The university had earlier also come under scrutiny in a probe linked to the November 10, 2025, Red Fort suicide car blast in which 15 people were killed.

The ED arrested Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui (Director and major shareholder of Tarbia Education Foundation), on late November 18 evening last year under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 following a detailed investigation and analysis of evidences gathered during a massive search action conducted at premises related to Al Falah group in the ongoing probe in an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) recorded by the agency on November 14.

Forged Documents of Deceased Owners Uncovered

Investigation revealed that many landowners died between 1972 and 1998. Despite this, a GPA dated January 7, 2004, was signed by them. "Despite this, the document was later used to facilitate the sale of land to the foundation," said the officials, privy to the investigation.

Documents reviewed by the ED so far point to striking irregularities, showing that several landowners -- including Nathu (died January 1, 1972), Harbans Singh (died April 27, 1991), Harkesh (died June 12, 1993), Shiv Dayal (died January 22, 1998), and Jay Ram (died October 15, 1998) -- had already passed away long before the GPA was executed.

"All of these individuals are shown as signatories or executants of the 2004 GPA, which was purportedly executed in favour of Vinod Kumar, son of Bhule Ram," said the officials. Officials note that under the law, a deceased person cannot execute a GPA, nor can such a document carry any legal validity. Despite this, a registered sale deed dated June 27, 2013, transferred the land to Tarbia Education Foundation for Rs 75 lakh, with Vinod Kumar signing on behalf of multiple deceased co-owners claiming to act under the forged GPA.

Other Fraud Allegations

Earlier, the ED had also alleged that Al-Falah University and its controlling trust generated proceeds of crime worth at least Rs 415.10 crore by fraudulently inducing students and parents to pay fees based on false accreditation and recognition claims. The federal agency had made the claims in the remand application filed before a court after the arrest of the Al-Falah group chairman.

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