Gurugram: The Haryana Assembly on Monday passed a Bill to amend the Haryana Private Universities Act, 2006, giving massive powers to the government for the management and dissolution of those varsities, especially involved in grave lapses related to national security.
The amendment comes in the backdrop of the controversy surrounding Al Falah University, a private institution which was recently in the news as some of its faculty were linked to the Red Fort blast in Delhi.
The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the amendment Bill says that after going through various sections of the 2006 Act, as amended from time to time, it was found that various sections need to be amended to streamline the procedure.
“No procedure has been prescribed for the dissolution of the University and appointment of an Administrator in the University. Accordingly, it is necessary to insert Section 44B to streamline the procedure for dissolution of the University and administration of the University by way of amendment,” the statement said.
“Further, the special powers of the government need to be streamlined so that the provisions relating to public interest and the same may be better clarified.”
Responding to the concerns raised by the opposition legislators, Haryana Education Minister Mahipal Dhanda assured them that the amendment was only aimed at streamlining the procedures related to private universities.
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New section added
Section 44B incorporated by the government provides for a phased dissolution of a private university, show documents accessed by ThePrint.
The section provides for the steps to be followed for dissolution of universities. The government, it said, shall dissolve the authorities of a university and appoint an administrator to supervise, manage and regulate its affairs during such phased dissolution.
The administrator shall have all the powers and shall be subject to all the duties of the Governing Body and the Board of Management under this Act, it added.
Upon appointment of the administrator, all the assets and properties of the university shall vest in him/her and have its full control and management. The administrator shall meet day-to-day expenses from the income/liquid assets of the university. In case of its insufficiency, the administrator, with prior approval of the government, shall have the power to dispose of the properties and assets of the university.
The government, if deemed necessary, may at any time replace the administrator with another, the section read.
As for any fresh admissions necessary in public interest or for ensuring academic continuity or student welfare, the administrator can submit a recommendation to the government. In turn, the government may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, approve such admissions, subject to compliance with the provisions of the act, the statutes, the ordinances and applicable regulatory norms.
The administrator shall administer the affairs of the university until the last batch of students of the regular courses have completed courses and have been awarded degrees, diplomas or awards, and thereafter submit a report to the government.
On receipt of the report, the government shall make an amendment in the schedule by omitting the university concerned and from the date of such amendment, all its assets and liabilities shall vest in the sponsoring body.
The government, according to the documents, can invoke special powers for cases such as any grave lapse, including the matters relating to national security, sovereignty and integrity of India, public security, law and order, use or misuse of the premises for unlawful or anti-national activities (including but not limited to acts affecting sovereignty and integrity of India) or any other serious act prejudicial to public interest.
Though the amended Act doesn’t name the universities, the reference to Al Falah University is obvious. Established by Al Falah Charitable Trust and officially gained university status in 2014 through an act of the Haryana Assembly, Al Falah is a private university located in Dhauj village of Faridabad.
The private university has come under intense scrutiny from multiple federal agencies following the Red Fort blast on 10 November that killed at least 15 people.
Further, the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) sent a show-cause notice to the university for misleading the public. The university reportedly advertised a ‘Grade A’ accreditation on its website long after its previous certifications for individual colleges had expired (in 2016 and 2018). It also falsely claimed status under Section 12(B) of the UGC Act to appear eligible for central grants.
The Enforcement Directorate arrested Al Falah’s founder and chancellor Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui in November. He is accused of money laundering and defrauding students of over Rs 415 crore between 2018 and 2025. Investigators allege that student fees (which was up to Rs 90 lakh for MBBS courses) were diverted for personal use rather than educational infrastructure
Beyond security matters
The Bill also tries to deal with other problems such as some universities starting new courses and increasing seats without permission.
From now on, there will be annual audits—both academic and administrative. Auditors will check, whether universities are following all the rules and maintaining standards. Any irregularity can draw a government notice as well as action.
The amended Act also established the 27th private university, University of Design, Innovation and Technology’, in Gurugram.
Congress MLAs Raghubir Singh Kadyan, Geeta Bhukkal, Bharat Bhushan Batra and Aditya Surjewala made their concerns known regarding the passage of Bills in the Haryana Assembly.
Kadyan said that the private universities were maintaining good academic standards, and it must be kept in mind that the amendment doesn’t increase undue interference of the government in their functioning.
Drawing the government’s attention to the mushrooming of private universities, Bhukkal urged it to take measures to curb the practice by “certain universities of South India” to set up centres in Haryana.
Batra demanded that the government fix the qualification for administrators so that bureaucrats with little academic experience were not appointed to these posts. On his part, Surjewala flagged the efforts to increase the government’s control by doing away with the deemed approval to the courses.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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