With a view to avoiding any irregularities related to Waqf Board revenue, revenue minister Eknath Khadse on Wednesday instructed all collectors to seek permission from the board and not from the charity commissioner for transfer, sale or lease of any of its properties. He said no Waqf property was to be bought or sold without permission from the board. The minister even cancelled earlier such deals, terming them illegal.
“We are going to convey our displeasure about permissions given by the charity commissioner for transfer and sale of lands. Despite the apex court’s order dated May 11, 2012, the charity commissioner permitted it in 10 cases. This was contempt of court and action will be taken against the charity commissioner. The commissioner and those involved in the land deals will be sent show cause notices,” said Mr Khadse. He said that all deals permitted by the charity commissioner be cancelled. He added that there were about 70 such cases between 2005 and 2010 which had no legal standing.
The state revenue department had last week instructed that all immovable Waqf properties that were illegally transferred, sold or leased, be taken back and re-registered as Waqf properties. The state government’s move comes in the wake of findings of the Atak Sheikh committee, appointed iin October 2007, which observed that many Waqf properties had been illegally sold or leased out. The issue was also raised in the legislature several times after which the committee was appointed.
As per online data available with the Maharashtra State Waqf Board, there are 23,566 listed Waqf properties admeasuring 37,330.97 hectare in the state. Of these, a maximum of 15,877 Waqf properties admeasuring 23,121.10 hectare are in the Aurangabad division. According to the board, 60 per cent of Waqf land is under encroachment in the Marathwada region (Aurangabad division).
