Al-Falah challenges Haryana’s ‘unbridled’ power to seize private institutions

CHANDIGARH: The Al-Falah Charitable Trust and Al-Falah University Faridabad, which came under the scanner following the car explosion near the Red Fort, has moved the Punjab and Haryana high court challenging the constitutional validity of the Haryana Private Universities (Amendment) Act, 2025.The petition accused the Haryana govt of assuming "unbridled and arbitrary" powers that threaten the existence of private and minority-run educational institutions. The legal action centres on newly introduced sections 44B and 46 of the Act enacted on Jan 6 empowering the state govt to appoint an "administrator" to take over the management and control of any private university under the pretext of "grave lapses", including vaguely defined concerns regarding national security, public order, and law and order. The petition, which is yet to come up for hearing, contended that these amendments allow the state to maintain control of a university even after "normalcy" was restored. This, the plea contended, is a direct violation of Article 30 of the Constitution, which guarantees minorities the right to establish and administer educational institutions. The friction between the university and the state appeared to escalate following an incident on Nov 10, 2025, when four faculty members were allegedly linked to a bomb blast in Delhi. According to the petition, Al-Falah University took immediate corrective action by terminating the services of the individuals, Nisarul Hassan, Umar-un-Nabi, Shaheen Saeed, and Muzammil Shakeel, and cooperated fully with investigating agencies. Despite this cooperation, the state issued an inquiry notice on Jan 14, seeking to inspect the campus under the new law. The trust, which managed the 70-acre campus in Faridabad's Mewat region since 1995, claimed the state was using these security concerns as a "garb" to usurp private property and institutional autonomy. The petition claimed the law creates an "unintelligible differentia" between classes of universities, violating the principle of equality under Article 14. It was also submitted that the law allegedly penalises institutions for past events, which the petitioners argued is a substantive change to their vested rights. The takeover of assets and management without compensation was challenged as a violation of Article 300A. The petitioner body, Al-Falah University, claimed to be recognised by the UGC in 2015, and submitted that it serves a marginalised population and operates a 650-bed charitable hospital. According to the plea, the state's move to appoint an "Administrator" would "extinguish" the minority character of the institution and disrupt the essential healthcare and education services provided to the Mewat region.