Property, Propriety

Because the Waqf Modification Invoice with 40 amendments goes to a joint parliamentary committee, events should bear in mind the distinctiveness of waqf alongside the pressing want for sharp oversight of its administration and property. It’s good to recollect the 2 elements of waqf, jurisdiction and administration, have at all times been contested points.

Complexity | Waqf is a singular Islamic charitable endowment, involving properties movable and immovable. All earnings from waqf properties are for use for charity. Property may assume the character of a waqf by its utilization over time. It’s irrevocable in its use. As SC had held, as soon as a waqf, at all times a waqf. The very nature of waqf makes it a posh phenomenon.

Misuse | Whereas that’s waqf’s noble nature, it’s the not-so-noble nature of its directors down the many years that has made many waqf points cesspits of graft and misuse, a political sizzling potato and a fraught matter for the Muslim group. State waqf our bodies abuse accountability and transparency. Enumeration of property is patchy. Nearly 5% India-wide have been encroached. Disputes are lots over lease, sale, tenancy and encroachments. Instances run for many years in constitutional courts and in understaffed, underfunded waqf tribunals. Land mafia has grabbed waqf property. Enforcement of present legislation is absent – it’s profitable to look away.

What’s wanted | Opposition events and Muslim our bodies have challenged the amendments as failing constitutional ensures. Objections have been raised to amendments proposed, corresponding to on-line asset administration by GOI, stripping state waqf boards of energy, changing elections to state waqfs with nominations, opening CEO-ship of a board to non-Muslims, amongst others. Sure, waqf belongings – 9.4L acres countrywide, estimated price of ₹1.2L cr – want environment friendly administration. However amendments mustn’t exacerbate present challenges.

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