The Rampur district administration on Wednesday ordered demolition proceedings against 38 buildings at Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar University, founded by former Uttar Pradesh minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan, after concluding that the structures were built without approved building plans.The administration concluded that the structures were built without approved building plans. (File)The decision was taken after district magistrate Ajay Kumar Dwivedi rejected the university management’s explanation during a personal hearing. The Rampur Development Authority (RDA) has given the institution 15 days to remove the allegedly unauthorised structures, failing which it will carry out the demolition.“As per rules, the institution has been given 15 days to demolish the illegal constructions on its own, failing which the RDA will undertake the demolition,” Dwivedi said.According to an RDA inspection, the university campus has 40 buildings, of which only two have sanctioned building plans. The remaining 38 were allegedly constructed without the required approvals.The action follows an RDA notice issued on July 1 seeking sanctioned building plans or other valid construction permissions. The university argued that the RDA did not exist when the buildings were constructed and therefore approvals from the authority could not have been obtained.The administration rejected the explanation, noting that the area was then under the jurisdiction of the district panchayat, which was the competent authority to sanction building plans. Officials said the university had obtained district panchayat approval for two buildings, indicating it was aware of the approval process but failed to secure permission for the remaining structures.Dwivedi said Jauhar University at Seengan Khera village came under the RDA’s jurisdiction in 2024 after previously being governed by the district panchayat. The RDA has since inherited the powers to approve building plans and initiate action against unauthorised constructions.Azam Khan and his son, Abdullah Azam, have been lodged in Rampur jail since November 17, 2025, after being convicted by a special MP-MLA court in a case related to possession of two PAN cards and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment. His wife, Tazeen Fatima, is currently out on bail.