The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ordered a 15-day interim stay on the proposed demolition of the ancestral home of Al Falah University chairman Jawad Siddiqui in Mhow’s Mukeri Mohalla, Bar & Bench reported.
Justice Pranay Verma noted that the demolition action relied on notices originally issued in 1996–97, observing that such a long delay required due process, noting “If action was to be taken after nearly 30 years, the petitioner should have been granted an opportunity of hearing.”
The stay restrains the Mhow Cantonment Board from undertaking any demolition or structural measures until the matter is heard again.
Mhow Cantonment Board in Madhya Pradesh has issued a final demolition notice for alleged “illegal construction” at the family’s ancestral home in Mukeri Mohalla.
The Board has directed the occupants and legal heirs to remove the unauthorised structure within three days, warning that failure to comply will result in the building’s demolition at their expense.
The notice, pasted on the property, states that the house has carried unauthorised additions for several years and that the department will now proceed with action if the violations are not cleared immediately.
According to official records, the dispute surrounding the property dates back nearly three decades. The Cantonment Board had earlier served notices on October 23, 1996, followed by another on November 2, 1996, under Section 185 of the Cantonments Act, 1924, and a subsequent one on March 27, 1997, under Section 256 of the same Act.
The four-storey structure, known locally as Maulana’s Building, belongs to the late Mohammad Hammad Siddiqui, the father of Jawad. With more than 25 windows and a large basement, the house, constructed in the 1990s, remains one of the most recognisable landmarks in Mhow’s Kayastha neighbourhood.
The stay was granted during the hearing of a petition filed by Abdul Majid, who lives in the building with his family.
Majid argues that the demolition notice does not specify which portion of the structure is considered unauthorised and claims that the board relied on outdated documents rather than undertaking a present-day assessment, leaving the grounds for demolition unclear.
His counsel, Advocate Ajay Bagadiya, contended that the board’s three-day ultimatum violated the Supreme Court’s 2025 guidelines requiring a minimum 15-day window for response, and pointed out that similar notices sent nearly thirty years ago never resulted in further action.
The question of ownership was also discussed in court, with submissions stating that the house originally belonged to the late Mohammad Hammad Siddiqui, was later transferred to his son Jawad Siddiqui, and subsequently gifted to Abdul Majid, who now asserts lawful ownership.
The latest demolition notice emerged amid renewed scrutiny of the Siddiqui family following the revival of a multi-state fraud probe, triggered after two doctors from Al Falah Medical College in Faridabad were suspected in a terror module suspected to be behind the November 10 blast near Delhi’s Red Fort.
Earlier in the week, Jawad’s younger brother, Hamud Ahmed Siddiqui, was arrested in Hyderabad after evading authorities for nearly twenty-five years.
He is accused in multiple investment fraud cases dating back to 2000, allegedly involving the defrauding of retired Army and Military Engineer Services personnel through bogus investment schemes.
Meanwhile , Enforcement Directorate (ED) has conducted searches at 25 locations across Delhi and Faridabad, including premises linked to Al-Falah University, which came under Hindutva cyber attack and media trial after three doctors were arrested by investigating agencies in connection with an alleged “terror module.”
Police inquiries reveal that Siddiqui, who began his career in Mhow in the 1990s, previously ran a company called Al-Falah Investment Company. According to Mhow Additional SP Rupesh Dwivedi, the family relocated to Delhi in 2001 after reports of financial irregularities surfaced.
Investigators say that after leaving Madhya Pradesh, Siddiqui went on to establish the Al-Falah Charitable Trust, which later set up Al-Falah University in Faridabad, Haryana.
