Supreme Court Stays Kerala High Court's Declaration That Munambam Land Isn't Waqf; Orders Status Quo

The Supreme Court today(December 12) stayed the declaration of the Kerala High Court that the Munambam property is not a Waqf land and ordered status quo with respect to the land till January 27. A bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, however, clarified that it has not stayed the observation of the High Court, which upheld the State Government's decision to appoint a one-member Commission of Inquiry to examine the status and extent of a 404.76-acre property in Munambam.The Court passed the interim order while issuing notice on a Special Leave Petition filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi against the High Court's verdict.At the outset, Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, assisted by AoR Abdulla Naseeh, for the petitioner, submitted that the High Court's observations regarding the validity of the Waqf deed were unwarranted as it was not the issue involved. The writ petition challenged only the State's constitution of the inquiry commission and the issues related to the validity of the Waqf deed, and the nature of the land are exclusively within the domain of the Waqf Tribunal. He also pointed out that proceedings are pending before the Waqf Tribunal challenging the notification of the land as Waqf. Hence, Ahmadi argued, the High Court erred in entering into those questions.Ahmadi said: "I went to the writ Court challenging this inquiry by the Commissioner of Inquiry to say that by virtue of the Bar enacted under Sections 85, 83 read with 7 of the Waqf Act, it is only the Waqf Tribunal that has the jurisdiction to determine. What division bench does, it goes into my waqf deed and declares that it is not waqf but a gift."Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, for the State, opposed the petitioner, saying that it was an organisation which was only a third party. He pointed out that the muttawalli of the concerned Waqf did not approach the High Court or was not aggrieved with the constitution of the inquiry commission, and that the petitioner was a stranger to the proceedings.Gupta: " What my learned friend hasn't pointed out that it is a PIL. It is not the muttawalli who has come forward and said that it is a waqf property. He claims to be a person aggrieved."Gupta further added that the inquiry commission has already submitted its report to the State Government. Regarding locus, Ahmadi submitted that the petitioner has a representative interest in the protection of Waqfs. He submitted that the muttawalli of the Waqf has sided with the opposite parties.Senior Advocate V Chitambaresh, for the current residents of the land, submitted that the petition has become infructuous as the Commission has already tendered its report to the Government. He emphasised that the present residents are poor fishermen and they were not heard before their properties, which had been under their occupation for a long time, were suddenly notified as Waqfs in 2019. Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, for another set of residents, submitted that there was a civil court decree holding that the land was not a waqf land.During the hearing, the bench wondered if the High Court was the right forum to go into the question of the character of the land, as the proceedings are pending before the Tribunal. "You are left worse off than you were before filing the writ petition...The question here is, if the Court comes to a conclusion that the writ petition was not maintainable, he could have stopped there...He has gone much beyond its remit," Justice Misra told Ahmadi. Justice Bhuyan also expressed a similar view, asking if the High Court could be the appropriate forum to decide these issues. He said: "Can the writ Court go into all this?...he could have set aside the order of the single judge instead of going into all this. Nobody has asked for this...he has gone much beyond. State Government should have challenged all this. This order has rendered your [plea] redundant."The bench observed in the order as follows:"The matter requires consideration. Issue notice returnable in week commencing 27 January. In the meantime, the declaration in the impugned judgment that the property in question is not subject matter of waqf shall remain stayed, and the status quo as regards the same shall be maintained."Advocate Subhash Chandran K took notice for the Kerala State Waqf Board. Advocate CK Sasi, Kerala's standing counsel, accepted notice for the State.BackgroundThe Munambam issue concerns a 404.76-acre stretch of land in Ernakulam district that was originally transferred to Farook College Managing Committee by one Mohammed Sidhique Sait through a 1950 deed. Over the decades, the College alienated portions of this land to various individuals, many of whom constructed homes and other buildings. In 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board classified the land covered by the 1950 deed as Waqf property, treating the deed as a Waqf deed rather than a gift. This move was opposed by families and individuals who had purchased the land from Farook College. The...

Supreme Court Stays Kerala High Court's Declaration That Munambam Land Isn't Waqf; Orders Status Quo

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

The bench orally said that the State should also have challenged the High Court's direction.

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