Prayagraj: Allahabad high court has dismissed petitions filed by several accused seeking quashing of an FIR in an alleged scam involving misappropriation of govt funds released to madrassas in Azamgarh, observing that the allegations warrant a thorough investigation.According to the probe, grants were sanctioned to 313 madrassas in the district under the madrassa modernisation scheme. Investigators alleged that 180 of these did not physically exist but still received benefits, including honorarium for teachers of modern subjects and scholarships for minority students.The court noted that information uploaded on the madrassa portal regarding buildings, student strength and other details was allegedly fabricated.A division bench of Justice JJ Munir and Justice VK Dwivedi dismissed petitions filed by Mohd Galib Khan, manager of Madrassa Kaifi Azmi Shikshan Sansthan in Gahji area of Azamgarh, and others. The petitioners had sought quashing of an FIR lodged on March 16, 2025, by Kunwar Brahm Prakash Singh, an officer of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state CID, at Ahraula police station of Azamgarh.In its July 1 order, the bench observed that the madrassa run by the petitioner was not found to be physically present at the location mentioned on govt portal.“This clearly shows that false documents, with an intention to cheat on the basis of bogus papers, have been prepared and, even if not technically false documents, the documents are certainly bogus. The intention to cheat is, therefore, evident,” the court said.The bench further noted that funds from Centre and state govts were periodically provided to madrassas for payment of teachers’ honorarium, scholarships and other purposes. It added that the investigation was still underway to determine how much money had been released to the 180 madrassas under scrutiny, including those linked to the petitioners.Rejecting the plea for quashing the FIR, the court observed that misuse of credentials of a govt-registered madrassa could not rule out the possibility of funds being collected from dubious or even foreign sources.“These are matters which require thorough investigation. It is certainly not a case where the FIR may be quashed at the threshold,” the court said.
