New Delhi, Aug 5 A Delhi court has rejected two applications moved by Al Falah University chairman Jawad Ahmad Siddiqui for filing certain documents, ruling that at the stage of cognisance, it is only required to take into consideration the material placed by the complainant and not the accused.
Siddiqui claimed the documents would expose contradictions in the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) case. His other application sought a direction to the agency to provide a list of documents it was not relying upon in the prosecution complaint.
In an order dated August 4, Additional Sessions Judge Sheetal Chaudhary Pradhan said, "It is a settled law that at the stage of cognizance the court is only required to take into consideration the material placed by the complainant (in this case the prosecution complaint), for limited purpose of finding out whether a prima facie case for issue of process is made out and is limited to the aforesaid extend."
The court said at the pre-cognisance stage, it is required to examine only the material placed by the complainant to determine whether a prima facie case is made out for proceeding against the accused.
"At the stage of cognisance, the court is only required to take into consideration the material placed by the complainant," the judge observed while rejecting the plea.
The defence had argued that the mandatory hearing before cognisance under the BNSS should allow an accused to place independent material before the court. It also sought supply of the list of unrelied documents and requested that the legal issue be referred to the high court.
The court, however, held that the question of supplying unrelied documents had already been decided earlier and stood covered by a Supreme Court judgement. It termed the fresh application meritless and not maintainable.
Opposing the applications, the ED submitted that the pleas were aimed at delaying the proceedings and amounted to an abuse of the process of law.
Siddiqui was arrested by the ED in two separate money laundering cases.
In the first case, he was arrested on November 18, 2025, in connection with alleged laundering of proceeds generated from fees collected from students of Faridabad-based Al Falah University.
The ED investigation stems from two Delhi Police Crime Branch FIRs alleging that the university falsely projected NAAC accreditation and UGC recognition to mislead students and parents.
According to the agency, the university generated Rs 415.10 crore between 2018 and 2025 and diverted student fee collections for personal use.
The ED subsequently arrested Siddiqui in another money laundering case alleging fraudulent acquisition of land worth Rs 45 crore in Delhi.
Al Falah University came under scrutiny in a "white-collar terror" probe after two doctors linked to it were arrested, while another doctor associated with its hospital, Umar-un-Nabi, was identified by investigators as the suicide bomber in the November 10, 2025 blast outside the Red Fort that killed 15 people.
