Al-Falah University Responds to NAAC Notice Amid Red Fort Blast Fallout

Faridabad’s Al-Falah University, under scrutiny after investigators linked members of its medical college to the November 10 Red Fort blast, has submitted its response to a show-cause notice issued by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), two senior officials said Friday.

The university acknowledged that outdated accreditation claims on its website were due to “oversight,” “website-design errors,” and “unintentional lapses.” Officials said Al-Falah was “apologetic” and confirmed that the misleading information has been removed. No further action is currently planned.

The NAAC notice, issued on November 12, came two days after investigators linked several Al-Falah Medical College doctors to the blast that killed at least 12 people. The body had flagged the university for displaying “absolutely wrong and misleading” accreditation details — including a 2013 “A Grade” for its engineering college and 2011 accreditation for its teacher education school, despite NAAC accreditation being valid for only five years. The notice required the university to remove false claims, file a compliance report, and respond within seven days.

“Al-Falah University gave a long explanation about why the outdated information was still on their website. They said it was an oversight or website-design mistake and the pages have now been taken down,” a senior NAAC official said. Another official noted that the explanation “was not entirely straightforward,” pointing to overlooked old webpages and a staff lapse. “They were apologetic and insisted it was not intentional,” he added, emphasizing the difficulty of manually monitoring thousands of institutions.

In the wake of the Al-Falah case, NAAC has issued notices to around 25 other institutions found displaying expired accreditation grades, as part of a broader push for transparency and compliance. NAAC has repeatedly warned that misrepresenting accreditation status could lead to “stringent action,” noting in a 2018 cautionary note that outdated information misleads stakeholders.

Scrutiny of Al-Falah University extends beyond accreditation lapses. On November 18, the Enforcement Directorate arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of the Al-Falah group, in a money laundering case linked to alleged fraudulent accreditation and financial irregularities. The Association of Indian Universities has revoked the group’s membership, and the National Medical Commission removed four doctors from its medical register after they were booked under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for their alleged role in the Red Fort blast.

Earlier, on November 12, vice-chancellor Bhupinder Kaur issued a statement distancing the university from the arrested doctors, asserting it had “no connection” with them beyond their official duties.