Recently, Sunni Musalman community, the Mafidaran Madaria Aalmeen (Fukran) Sansthan, and others have filed a petition in the Rajasthan High Court challenging the Waqf Board’s ownership of property under the garb of managing Waqf properties.

As per a LawBeat report, the plea states that it is against secularism, unity, and integrity of the nation as there are no similar laws for followers of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jains, Sikhism, Judaism, Baha’ism, Zoroastrianism & Christianity.

The petition argues that the property held by the Waqf Board under the garb of protecting properties is in complete violation of the Constitution of India, as it is not mentioned anywhere in the Constitution.

It further says that it is against secularism, as there exists no such law in other religions. The plea further states that the approximate number of registered Waqf properties in India so far is around 6.6 lakhs and accounts for around 8 lakh acres of land throughout the country, which makes Waqfs the third largest landholder after the Railways and Ministry of Defense.

“In the last 10 years, Waqf Boards have rapidly captured the lands of others and declared those properties as Waqf Property. Resulted at present there are 6,59,877 properties according to data released by Waqf Management System of India (WAMSI) working under the Ministry of Minority Affairs., up to July 2020 have been registered as Waqf Property for far covered around 8 lakh acres”, the plea adds.

The plea urges that if the act is to be enacted at all to secure fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 & 26, then it must be in consonance with Articles 14 & 15 of the Constitution of India.

In their petition to the High Court, the aggrieved petitioners made the following allegations:

1. the Religious Endowment Act, 1863, Indian Trustees Act, 1882, and Charitable and Religious Act, 1990 are made to manage trusts and religious endowments of all communities. But rather than unifying them and making a “Uniform Code for Trust and Trustees, Charities and Charitable Institutions, Charitable and Religious Endowments and Religious Institution” The Centre, as well as State, has arbitrarily enacted the impugned religion–biased act against the basic tenets of Article 14 & 15.
2. Waqf Board lacks the ability to decide complicated questions of Civil Disputes relating to Title and Possession of property and instead the power of the Civil Court to determine the issues relating to the title has been taken away by creating the Waqf Tribunal under Section 83 of the Act.
3. Waqf Board, wherein the Muslim political persons, Offers, Town Planners, Mutawallies, and other approachable persons are paid from the public exchequer, through Central Government as well as the State Government does not collect even a single rupee from any Mosque, Mazar, or Dargah. On other hand, the States collect around 1 lakh crore rupees from the 4 lakhs Temples, but there are no similar provisions for Hindus. Thus, the Act offends Article 27 of the Constitution.
4. the provision made for the inclusion of a property as Waqf property is not in conformity with the principles of natural justice guaranteed under Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
5. The fate of properties of Trust, Mutts, Akharas, and Societies are subject to the will of the Waqf Board and therefore, they have been placed as Subordinates to Waqf Boards, which is against the spirit of Articles 14, 15, 26, 27 and 300-A of the Constitution of India.

The petition has also put forth the grounds for the allegations:

1. Parliament cannot enact a separate law giving special status to Waqf properties which are not available to other communities governed by the Religious Endowment Act, of 1853.
2. Waqf Act has been made in addition to and in derogation of the different enactments applicable to TrustsReligious Endowments of all communities.
3. They cannot enjoy any special right over and above those applicable to Trusts, Charitable and Religious Institutions being run by the Hindu community or non-Islamic religious groups.

The plea seeks the High Court to pass directions and declare that the Centre can enact only uniform Laws for Trust and Trustees, Charities and Charitable Institutions, and Religious Endowments and Institutions as enumerated in the Constitution of India, and that they cannot make separate laws for Waqf and Waqf properties.

(With inputs from LawBeat)