The Karnataka Excessive Court docket has refused to intervene in a petition difficult the election of a member to the state Waqf board who was later elected as its chairman. The excessive courtroom disposed of the plea, citing its earlier orders as per which disputes associated to the Waqf Board are the area of the tribunal arrange underneath the Waqf Act, 1995.
A single-judge bench of the excessive courtroom on April 4 disposed of the problem to the election of Syed Mohammed Ali as a member of the board in 2024, and his subsequent election as its chairman, although solely 5 members of the 12-member board had been current for the polling.
The 2 separate petitioners within the case – Riyaz Ahmed from Bengaluru and Mohammed Sadatullah from Shivamogga – initially challenged the inclusion of Ali, who hails from Kalaburagi, within the electoral roll of muttawalis (custodian/trustee of Waqf property) on October 22, 2024. Later, they challenged his election to the Waqf Board as a member and eventually as its chairman.
“The realized senior counsel for the respondents (Waqf Board and others) Jayakumar S Patil would take us by an order handed by a coordinate bench in similar circumstances the place the coordinate bench relegated these individuals to problem the elections to the Wakf board to the tribunal by way of part 83 (1) and (2) of the Wakf Act, 1995,” the excessive courtroom mentioned.
In response to part 83 (1) of the Waqf Act, 1995, Waqf Tribunals constituted by the state authorities are vested with powers “for the willpower of any dispute, query or different matter regarding a waqf or waqf property…”
In response to part 83 (2) of the Waqf Act of 1995, “Any mutawalli particular person concerned with a waqf or every other particular person aggrieved by an order made underneath this Act, or guidelines made thereunder, could make an software throughout the time specified on this Act or the place no such time has been specified, inside such time as could also be prescribed, to the Tribunal for the willpower of any dispute, query or different matter regarding the waqf.”
The Karnataka Excessive Court docket mentioned on Friday that in mild of part 83, for the reason that dispute includes “issues that come up out of the elections which are already over to the Wakf Board, the petitioner who claims to be a voter from the electoral school of Muttawalis can’t keep this petition and it must be essentially earlier than the tribunal”.
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“Subsequently, the petitioners are reserved liberty to method the tribunal. A writ petition difficult the election course of after the conclusion of the election course of wouldn’t be maintainable within the view of this courtroom. The difficulty of the quorum (for electing the chairman) would additionally must be thrashed out earlier than the tribunal in applicable proceedings,” the excessive courtroom mentioned in its order.