E-Paper
Delhi HC refuses to halt inspection of 123 Delhi Waqf Board properties
The Delhi high court has also directed the authorities to ensure minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the properties by the Waqf Board
The Delhi high court has refused to halt the inspection of 123 Delhi Waqf properties by the Union government and its agencies, while directing the authorities to ensure minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the properties by the Waqf Board.
The court’s interim direction comes in an application filed by the Delhi Waqf Board to restrain the inspection and demolition of the 123 properties. The application was filed last month in a pending petition challenging the February 8 decision of the Centre to absolve the Board from all matters related to the 123 properties based on the two-member committee’s report.
The Land and Development Office (L&DO) of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MOHUA) in February decided to take over 123 properties of the Delhi Waqf Board, including mosques, dargah and graveyards, based on the report of a two-member committee and wrote a letter to Board’s chairman Amanatullah Khan informing the decision.
While the challenge against the decision was pending, the Board in a fresh application following the demolition of the boundary wall of the Babar Road Mosque at Bengali market, told the court that despite the pendency of the matter, DDA has started to send its employees to visit the Waqf properties, part and parcel of the 123 Waqf properties, along with the police, who are affixing and distributing the notices/letters at the Waqf properties/ mosques included in the 123 Waqf properties during the prayer times.
Permitting the Union government to inspect the properties, justice Manoj Kumar Ohri said, “In view thereof, pending a final decision in the present petition, respondent may act upon its letter dated February 8, 2023 to carry out the inspection while ensuring minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the subject properties by the petitioners. CM applications filed by the petitioners for interim directions, are kept pending for disposal after the completion of pleadings..”
While the order was passed on April 26, it was made available on Tuesday.
Taking note of the counter affidavit by the union government filed in 1984 in a similar litigation in connection to the properties, the court said that it would show that prior to passing of the order of March 27, 1984 (whereby it was decided to transfer the subject properties on lease to the DWB), a Committee of Officers under the chairmanship of Meer Nasrullah, special secretary (minority cell), Ministry of Home Affairs was set up to survey many properties including the subject properties.
“The committee included officers from the Ministry of Work & Housing, Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Development Authority, L&DO and DWB. The committee surveyed the subject properties in detail and assessed the nature of each property in the context of the requirement of development of the capital city. Reportedly, during the said survey, site verification of all the subject properties was also carried out. On a specific query put by the court to the counsel for the petitioners, it was confirmed that physical site inspection of the subject properties was carried out even in the past- in the year 1983,” the court said in its order.
Appearing for the Union government, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma, submitted that at present it is only confining its request to the physical inspection of the properties in question as sought in the communication of February 8, 2023.
“The stated intent behind the issuance of letter dated 08.02.2023 is to carry out inspection of the subject properties and place all the relevant material before the competent authority in order to take an appropriate decision in the matter. This stand is stated to be without prejudice to respondent’s contentions about having the title and ownership of the subject properties,” the court said.
The matter would be heard on November 6.
Challenging the Union government’s decision of February 8, 2023, the Waqf Board has contended that all these properties are either dargahs, mosques or graveyards, which have always remained in its possession and cannot be taken away now on the basis of a report of a two-member committee.
Earlier in a short affidavit, the Union government had opposed both the main petition and the application saying that the Delhi Waqf Board is not and cannot be the owner of any of the 123 properties and at best could only be a custodian, that too only if it’s a Waqf property.
It has said that “merely because certain properties were given on lease to various persons, does not ipso-facto mean that the said properties are converted into Waqf properties”.
