Delhi HC refuses to stay inspection of 123 waqf properties

New Delhi [India], May 3 : The Delhi High Court refused to stay the inspection of 123 Waqf properties in Delhi by the central government.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri passed the order on April 26. The order was released on Tuesday evening.

The bench passed the interim order saying that the respondent may act upon its letter dated February 8, 2023 to carry out the inspection.

However, the bench directed to ensure minimal disruption in the day-to-day administration of the subject properties by the petitioners.

The matter has been listed on November 6 for further hearing.

The petitioners Delhi Waqf Board and others sought a stay of the February 8 letter issued by the central government with respect to 123 properties which it claims to have vested in the Delhi Waqf Board under Section 32 of the Waqf Act, 1995.

The central government disputed the petitioner's claim and submitted that the subject properties had been acquired by it in the acquisition proceedings taken out in 1911-1915 pursuant to which necessary mutation was carried out in the revenue records.

While posing the Petition of Delhi Waqf Board against the 123 properties, the central government has said that the Delhi Waqf Board is not and cannot be an owner of a given property and at best it can be the custodian of the property, if it is a waqf property.

An affidavit was filed before the bench in the petition.

The bench said, "A perusal of the same would show that prior to passing of the order on March 27, 1984 (transfer of 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 on August 22, 1983 to survey many properties including the subject properties."

The Committee included officers from the Ministry of Work and Housing, Ministry of Home Affairs, Delhi Development Authority, Land and Development office and Delhi Wakf Board (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, the bench noted.

The affidavit said that the Petitioner (Delhi Waqf Board) nor anyone else can have the objection to any inspection which would even otherwise be permissible under the Waqf Act and which in any case would clarify the factual position obtaining on the ground in respect of such properties.

It was submitted 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.

The Delhi Waqf Board is a creation of a statute ie The Waqf Act, 1954. This being the position, the Petitioner in any case does not either have the locus or the competence to raise any question whatsoever on the acquisition of properties that took place way back in 1911 to 1914, the affidavit submitted.

The central government was represented by Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma and central government Standing Counsel Kirtiman Singh. They had submitted that the government order only speaks about the physical inspection of the properties.

Senior advocate Rahul Mehra had argued that the possession of the properties has been with the board. The board has been contesting the matter for the last 100 years and the decision of the government is blatantly illegal.

He sought a status quo in the matter till the next date of hearing. He also opposed the contention of the government counsels that the board has not shown any interest in the properties.

The Court had refused and said it cannot pass any such order at this stage without hearing the other side.

The Delhi Waqf Board has challenged the order by filing a petition through advocate Wajeeh Shafiq. It is said that the Union Government has no power to take such action in view of the Waqf Act. This Act has an overriding effect and is a complete code governing the Waqf properties.

The petition said the board is aggrieved by the conclusion that it does not have any stakes in the Waqf Properties totalling 123 in number; and decision to absolve the petitioner from all the matters concerning the aforesaid 123 properties Statutorily vest with the petitioner as per the provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995

It is stated that to arrive upon the said conclusion and decision, the Central Government has given flimsy reasons that the petitioner has neither shown any interest in those properties nor filed its objections/claims before the Two Member Committee formed by the Centre to re-examine the matter of 123 Waqf Properties.

Pertinently, the issue of 123 Waqf Properties has already been examined at least five times and every time it is found that those properties are waqf and be left to the petitioner, it added.

The last examination of the issue was by a One Man Committee, appointed by the Centre through its notification of May 19, 2016, the plea said.

The report of the said One Man Committee has been rejected by the Centre without even a whiff thereof to the petitioner, it added.