Thiruvananthapuram, July 15 (IANS) The Kerala High Court, in an interim order on Wednesday, restrained the state Waqf Board from taking any major decisions after finding that its present constitution appears to be contrary to the provisions of the Waqf Act.

A division bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice V.M.Syam Kumar observed that the Board was prima facie not constituted in accordance with Section 14 of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development (UMEED) Act, 1995, as amended, since it does not include two mandatory non-Muslim members and a Shia representative.

Pending a final decision, the court directed that the Waqf Board shall not take any major policy decisions, incur capital expenditure or make important administrative decisions without the court’s permission.

It also ordered that the Board would function, for the time being, under the supervision of the Joint Secretary of the state government department dealing with Waqf matters.

The order came while the court was hearing four public interest litigations challenging the legality of the Board’s constitution.

During the hearing, the state government admitted that there were shortcomings in the Board’s composition.

Advocate General Jaju Babu informed the court that the government had filed an affidavit acknowledging the infirmities.

When the Bench sought clarification, he indicated that the state was willing to reconstitute the Board in accordance with the law.

Senior Advocate T. Krishnanunni, appearing for the Waqf Board, admitted that two non-Muslim members had not been nominated.

He submitted that the appointments were delayed in view of related issues before the Supreme Court.

However, the Additional Solicitor General and the petitioners told the court that no such cases were pending.

The petitions contend that the Board has not been constituted as required under the amended Waqf Act.

One of the petitions, filed by the Assembly of Christian Trust Services (ACTS), also challenges the inclusion of the disputed Munambam land in the Centre’s UMEED portal, arguing that it affects Hindu and Christian residents and that only the muttawali is empowered to upload Waqf property details.

Another petition filed by BJP leader Shone George seeks the immediate appointment of the two non-Muslim members and a declaration that the present Board is functioning in violation of the amended law.

The High Court has posted the case for further hearing next week.

–IANS

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