15 Instances Of Waqf Act Being Misused

New Delhi: Despite opposition calls for a joint committee review, the government introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. This bill proposes significant changes aimed at limiting the authority of Waqf Boards in designating properties as 'Waqf.' It introduces a new, detailed process for such declarations, including a preliminary survey by the district magistrate, rather than the board's survey officer, as a prerequisite for any determination. 

Reports suggested that the central cabinet discussed 40 amendments to the Act, thereby making it mandatory to verify any property claimed by the Waqf Board and changes to the structure of the Central and State Waqf Board Councils to ensure women’s representation. Sources claimed that the proposed amendments would also make mandatory verification for disputed properties of Waqf Boards. The bill to amend the Waqf Board Act, initially passed in 1954 during the Jawaharlal Nehru-led government, is likely to be introduced in the Parliament next week. At present, there are 30 Waqf boards across the country.

Waqf Board Act Was Earlier Amended In 1995

The act aimed to simplify Waqf management and provisions, which further led to the establishing the Central Waqf Council in 1964, under the Ministry of Minority Affairs. Further, to allow the formation of Waqf Boards across the states and the Union Territories, the Waqf Board Act was amended in 1995.

The fresh proposed amendments, apart from reportedly aiming to give representation to women in the Central Waqf Council and state boards, are being brought after the central government previously noted the sweeping powers of the state Waqf Boards to stake claims on any property and the delays in surveying such properties in most states. Reports claimed that the Waqf board is presently India’s third largest landowner after the Armed Forces and the Indian Railways.

Moreover, the flaws in the appeal process were also under scrutiny in such cases, wherein an appeal against a decision of the Waqf board lies with the tribunal and has no timeline for the disposal of such appeals.

The proposed amendments to the Act, are claimed to be related to the slew of instances, wherein the issue of illegal land encroachment in the name of religion surfaced alleging that the Central Wakf Board may be illegally taking ownership of land by labelling it as ‘Waqf’ property. The board has been accused over and again of fraudulently obtaining lands and public spaces, thereby putting into question on the relevance of their actions.

As the Centre has moved the amended Bill in Lok Sabha, a look at those 15 instances, wherein the Waqf Act was allegedly misused.

15 Instances of Alleged Misuse of Waqf Act

• The Waqf board in Tamil Nadu reportedly recently claimed ownership of an entire village, with a 1500-year-old Hindu Temple, taking the villagers by shock.
• Reportedly, Jathlana village in Haryana’s Yamunanagar district witnessed the overriding powers of the Waqf, when a land parcel with a Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) was transferred to the Waqf, which had no history of any Muslim settlement or mosque being there.
• In November 2021, the Surat Municipal Corporation headquarters at Muglisara had been declared Waqf property. It was reportedly claimed that during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, the property had been donated by the emperor to his daughter as a Waqf property, and therefore, the claim could be justified even almost 400 years later.
• In 2018, the Sunni Waqf Board stated, before the Apex court, that the Taj Mahal is owned by the Almighty but must be listed as property of the Sunni Waqf Board for practical purposes. When asked about the relevant documents of ownership, they further said that they had no signed documents of the monument but they must be given the rights to the property.
• In 2022, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board claimed that the disputed property upon which the Gyanvyapi Masjid stands today is a Waqf property. However, the counsel for the temple side discarded this claim before the court.
• A ‘Shivalay (Lord Shiva Temple)’ in Lucknow had been reportedly registered as a Waqf property in collusion with the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board. Surprisingly, the Shivalay has been documented in the state records since 1862, while the Shia Central Waqf Board came into existence in 1908, as per the claims.
• In 2021, the Waqf Board wrote an application to the Gujarat High Court claiming ownership of two islands in Devbhoomi Dwarka’s Bet Dwarka. However, in 2022, the Gujarat High Court rejected that plea.
• In August 2014, the Wakf Board sent a notice to the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) claiming ownership of a disputed piece of land near Jalna Road, urging it to halt the process of obtaining the land from another party for road widening.
• In 2013, the Telangana Waqf Board opposed the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation’s move to acquire a portion of land belonging to the green mosque in the city’s Banjara Hill for road widening, contesting that the land was a Waqf property.
• A pilot project launched by the Maharashtra government detected over 1,700 new Waqf properties in just two districts of Pune and Parbhani in November 2018.
• In 2019, in a written reply to BJP MP Ajay Nishad's question, Minorities Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stated in the Lok Sabha that a total of 16,937 Waqf Board properties were under encroachment in the country, including 5,610 in Punjab, which is the state with highest encroachments in the country.
• In 2017, the BJP-led Maharashtra government suspended a former head of a Muslim organization, in-charge of land endowments, amid growing concern that "Waqf" land and property, set aside for religious or charitable use, is being illegally sold to developers. Notably, the Waqf, is an endowment of land or property by Muslims for a religious, educational or charitable purpose and as per the Indian law, it cannot be transferred or sold, and must be used for the community's welfare.
• In 2024, the Delhi High Court observed unauthorized constructions in disputed Waqf properties. The high court flagged the issue relating to the dispute on around 123 properties, on which the Delhi Waqf Board laid its claim, even though the Centre de-listed them.
• In January 2024, the Waqf Board filed a special petition in the Supreme Court claiming ownership of some portion of the land in the Banbhulpura area of Haldwani in Nainital, which the Uttarakhand High Court had declared to be that of the Railways.
• In August 2014, the Omar Abdullah-led government in Jammu and Kashmir, stated that more than 360 Kanal of Waqf land of commercial value is under the Army’s possession in the border district of Poonch and out of which the Army is paying rent for only 21 Kanal.
• ‘Waqf’ Not Prevalent In Islamic Countries
• Waqf is not prevalent in the Islamic countries of Turkey, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Tunisia, and Iraq. However, in India, the Waqf Board is not only the largest urban landowner, but there is a law to protect them legally.