Despite the government’s claims that the Telangana Waqf Board properties are being protected, a closer look at the cases pending in various courts reveals that the government had no interest in protecting the Waqf Board lands and properties.
There are 2892 Waqf board property cases pending from the Supreme Court down to the lower courts, but the Waqf Board has no qualified lawyers to handle these cases.
The number of Waqf Board property cases is on the rise, and the occupants of these lands have become adept at obtaining stay orders from the courts to prolong the proceedings for decades.
There was collusion between the Waqf Board officials and occupiers resulting in the loss of some valuable properties.
Property records have been missed or manipulated in a number of cases. The occupiers of the Waqf Board lands acquired the complete files while these properties are not recorded in the Board’s records.
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However, even though the Government of Telangana has sealed the Waqf Board’s records room, one cannot be certain that all of its records have been properly maintained.
The number of cases pending in various courts is 12 in the Supreme Court, 1431 in the High Court, 1016 in the Waqf Tribunal, and 114 in the district courts. The cases involve properties, muttawavalis, and committees. Similarly, there are 319 divorced women’s allowance cases pending.
It is believed that there is interference in the selection of the standing counsel for representing the cases. This is the main reason why the Waqf Board loses most of its cases.
According to a source, there are no special counsels assigned to represent Board cases before the Supreme Court, but there are only two assigned to represent cases before the High Court. The first standing counsel handles the cases of Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy whereas the other deals with the remaining districts. With only two counsels to handle 1431 pending cases, this is woefully inadequate.
A number of the lawyers of the standing counsels were terminated due to their diligence and efficiency and refusal to follow the officials’ instructions.
Among the most high-profile cases lost by the Telangana Waqf Board were Dargah Hussain Shah Waliullah, Dargah Hazrat Baba Sharfuddin, Eidgah Gutla and Begumpet lands. As a result of insufficient records presented by the Board officials, the occupiers won these cases.
For property rights, the Waqf Board was only able to present gazette and survey reports, while the occupiers of Waqf Board lands had to present revenue records.
Gazette and survey reports aren’t recognized by the courts as evidence of property rights. Unless Waqf Board properties are recorded in revenue records, they will be vulnerable to encroachment and difficult to protect.
All Waqf Board property records were distributed to district collectors across the state, who were instructed to enter them into revenue records. Unfortunately, many districts have yet to begin this work.
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