Govt to identify process to determine Waqf properties under dispute

According to sources in the ministry, there are more than 58,000 complaints related to disputes on properties declared as Waqf properties, with 18,426 such cases with Waqf tribunals. There are 165 cases related to Waqf disputes before the Supreme Court and high courts across the country, ministry officials said.

According to officials, there are 8.7 lakh Waqf properties in India, on an area of 9.4 lakh acres. According to the Waqf Assets Management System of India, the largest number of Waqf properties are graveyards, followed by agricultural lands, mosques, and shops.

Ministry officials said that the sweeping powers to state Waqf Boards to declare a particular property as one of the Waqf has largely contributed to the high number of disputes. The ministry, it is learnt, has said that a proper procedure is required for identification and determination of a property as a Waqf property.

“There are cases in which individuals have been dispossessed of properties after they (properties) were declared a Waqf property,” a source in the ministry said. “While there is a system by which these cases are heard, this is done in tribunals, and there are many tribunals in the country that are not operational any longer.”

Sources said since Waqf is a state subject, the three-member tribunals are also chosen by the states. “The tribunals earlier had a single member — a judicial member,” a source said. “But it was made a three-member tribunal in 2013 and included a land-related expert and an expert on Islamic law. In our assessment, we found that (most) disputes are related to property. Besides, there are simply not that many Islamic scholars in the country to be members of these tribunals, which compounds the problems of their functionality.”

According to officials, there is no provision for persons “affected by identification of a property as Waqf’’ in the existing system. Once a property is declared as Waqf’s, it can only be contested in a tribunal, but the tribunals, they said, have no power to grant stay. Besides, the officials noted, there is no timeline for disposal of such cases by the tribunals.

“There is also the matter that the decision of the tribunal is final, and there is no provision for appeal, except under writ jurisdiction in a high court,” a source said. “The fact that a Waqf board can declare an individual’s property as Waqf’s makes it problematic, as the process in which this declaration can be contested is very weak. This is why the number of disputes is so high.”

Sources said the ministry is specifically looking at two contentious issues. First, the issue of ‘Waqf by User’, in which a plot of land or building, or a portion of it, when used for religious purposes, can be declared Waqf by User, even if the asset is not granted as a Waqf property by the owner. Ministry officials pointed out that no other country uses the Waqf by User provision.

Second, the Waqf-alal-aulad, or a waqf created for Wakifs’ family or children and is used as an instrument of succession.