Manilonda wakf land case: Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board keeps its options open after AP High Court verdict

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, April 3: With the AP High Court’s verdict in Lanco Hills
case going in its favour, the State Wakf Board has decided to pursue
other long-pending cases by hiring specialist lawyers.

About 1660 acres of prime Wakf land is under encroachment in different
parts of the State. The Board has identified 1200 encroachers and
decided to intensify its legal efforts to reclaim its land. The market
value of the Wakf lands under illegal occupation is about Rs 30,000
crore.

Wakf Board chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani (Khusro Pasha) told
reporters here on Tuesday that the High Court’s judgment had
vindicated the stand of the Wakf Board. “We have been claiming that
the land belongs to the Board. The court order has proved us correct.
The government had sold away the property claiming it as its own when
the Board was under its direct management. After the Board was
constituted, we started pursuing the case,” he said.

Asked about the next course of action with regard to Lanco Hills case,
Khusro Pasha said the Board would hold a meeting and decide whether to
acquire the land, seek compensation or give the land on lease.

The Board is now likely to vigorously pursue the cases of encroachment
of 98 acres of Wakf land in Guttala Begumpet and 35 acres of land
under the occupation of a religious educational institution in the city.

Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board cracks the whip against Ahmadiya (Qadiyani) properties

Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Feb 18: The Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board has cracked the
whip against Ahmadiyas, denotifying four religious places belonging to
the sect.
Muslim religious leaders have declared Ahmadiya or Qadiyani community
as non-Muslim and there has been a demand from Ulema to derecognize
the Wakf properties belonging to the group. The Wakf Board on Saturday
decided to remove four places of worship of Ahmadiya sect from the
Wakf properties list.
The belief of Ahmadiya sect goes against the Muslim belief on the
finality of the Prophethood, and therefore Muslim religious scholars
declared the sect as non-Muslim.
Wakf Board chairman Syed Shah Ghulam Afzal Biyabani said the four
properties removed from the Wakf list are Ahmedi Jubilee Hall at
Afzalgunj, Anwar Manzil and Baitul Irshad at Barkatpura and Masjid
Chinna Kunta in Mahbubnagar. He said the Board took the decision, as
Ahmadiyas are not Muslims. The Board has asked the State government to
take control of these places of worship or hand them over to the
Endowment Department.
He said Board decided to take a mosque at Falaknuma under its direct
management. Though the mosque is a Sunni Muslim property, Qadiyanis
manage it. Muslim qazis have been told not to perform the marriages of
Qadiyanis.

Andhra Pradesh Wakf Board fights long drawn battle with government on Manikonda Jagir lands

2011

By Syed Akbar

Hyderabad, March 26: With the State government and the State Wakf Board fighting a long-drawn battle on the title of about 1600 acres of prime land in Manikonda area of the city, Wakf activists demand that the government should hand over the land to the Board.

The AP High Court way back in 1959 declared in writ petition No. 666 that the land under Manikonda jagir belonged to the State Wakf Board. The State government later issued a gazette notification identifying the land as that of the State Wakf Board.

Much to the chagrin of the State Wakf Board, the State government allocated the land to a number of IT firms saying that the land was part of the inam jagir, and hence it belonged to the revenue department. But the Wakf Board says its lands are exempted under the Jagir Abolition Act.

"It is a Wakf property notified in the State Gazette. For obvious reasons the Wakf Board is not making a strong case. If the Board comes out of political pressures, and argues its case effectively, it will be richer by at least 30,000 crore," says Wakf protection and RTI activist Mohsin Bin Hussain Al Kasiri.

After declaring it as the revenue land, the government allocated it to the APIIC, which in turn sold it away to several IT firms at a throwaway price. In one instance, the government sold away 7.13 acres of land whose market value is about Rs 150 crore for just Rs 87.50 lakh. Though the price fixed was Rs 2.05 crore, the government offered a rebate of Rs 1.17 crore if the IT firm employed 1350 people.

"Even before the firm could fulfil its promise, the government provided the rebate in advance and registered the land for just Rs 87.50 lakh. The tribunal will decide whether it is a government or a Wakf land, but selling it for a throwaway price and offering advance rebate is a clear violation of law," a senior advocate, who has been fighting for Wakf lands, pointed out.

The AP State Wakf Board has the largest number of Muslim endowed properties in the country and yet it's annual income is quite meagre enough to meet the salaries of the staff. This is because most of the Wakf lands have been either encroached upon or given on lease on a paltry sum. A part of the Wakf land is in dispute with the revenue department laying claim over it.

Wakf land: Andhra Pradesh government cheats Muslims before elections

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Andhra Pradesh State government lays claim on more than 2000 acres of prime Wakf property belonging to the Pahadishariff dargah in Hyderabad. But hands over only 50 acres of land as a "goodwill gesture". Congress says it is a gift to Muslims, but Muslims want it to return the entire stretch of land. Read on for details


February 13, 2009
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Feb 12: The State government's handing over of 50 acres
of revenue land in Mamidipalli village in the city outskirts to the State
Wakf Board has raked up a major controversy.
The State government issued orders on February 10 allotting the
revenue land to the State Wakf Board, as against its claim of over 2000
acres of prime land. The government and the Wakf Board have been
locked in a legal battle over 2131.28 acres of land belonging to the
dargah of Hazrat Syed Baba Sharfuddin in Pahadishariff.
While the case is pending in a court, the government allotted 50 acres
of revenue land to the Board to paucify the Muslim community before
the State Assembly and the Lok Sabha polls. The Board claims that
2131.28 acres of land in Mamidipally village belongs to the dargah of
Hazrat Baba Sharfuddin while the State government argues that it is a
revenue land.
"The Wakf Board issued a notification on February 9, 1989 laying
claim on 2131.28 acres of land of the Baba Sharfuddin dargah. As per
Rules, a Wakf notification published in the State Gazette can be
challenged within a year. The government did not challenge the
notification. In fact on September 3, 1996 the State government in the
Assembly declared the land as a Wakf property. But now it claims that
the land belongs to the revenue department," said Mr Muhammad
Saleem, former chairman of the State Wakf Board.
While allotting 50 acres to the Wakf Board, the government made it
clear that it would not withdraw the case against the Board on 2131.28
acres Wakf land.
"The government claims that it is returning 50 acres of Wakf land to
the board. If it is so, it should return the entire stretch of the land which
the board has notified in a gazette more than 20 years ago. The
government has only allotted revenue land to the board with ulterior
political motives," said Muslim religious leader Hafiz Syed Shujath
Hussain.

Executive powers to the AP Wakf Board still a far cry

2008
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Jan 28: The State government has sought the concurrence of the Centre to amend the Andhra Pradesh Public Premises Act to provide executive powers to the State Wakf Board.
The State Wakf Board does not have executive powers unlike the endowments department, which controls Hindu religious properties. In the absence of executive powers, the Wakf Board finds its difficult to initiate legal and official proceedings against those who have encroached upon its properties.
Andhra Pradesh Wakf Board is the biggest Muslim endowment body in the country with more than 60,000 listed properties spread over around 1.50 lakh acres. But most of its properties are under illegal occupation.
Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy told a delegation of Muslim MLCs on Monday that the State government was awaiting concurrence from the Central government on the Wakf issue. AICC member and Congress MLC Mohammad Sultan Ahmed later told reporters that since Wakf affairs are covered under concurrent list, the State government has to get the nod from the Centre before it goes ahead with amendment to the Wakf Act.
The government has also ordered reconciliation of Wakf Board land records with those of the Revenue department to ensure that revenue and Wakf records contain the same data and information. He said the chief minister had agreed for digitisation of all Wakf records for easy reference and accessibility.
According to sources, the Central government has withheld its decision on the State government's request for concurrence to amend the Wakf Act on the grounds that Wakf properties are not state-owned and the properties are covered under the Wakf Act, 1995. Pending decision by the Centre, the State government plans to appoint three sub-divisional magistrates exclusively to attend to the eviction of encroachment of Wakf properties.

Wakf elections after three years

December 30, 2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Dec 29: The State Wakf Board will finally be constituted after Sankranti with the State government announcing the schedule of elections to the richest Muslim endowment body in the country.
The State Wakf Board has been headless for the past three years after the Board constituted by previous TD government resigned in the wake of change in government. The Congress government began the election process three years ago but could not move further with some of the mutavallis (custodians) of Wakf properties approaching High Court.
Now that all legal hurdles have been cleared, the government has issued notification for polls to the Wakf Board. The Board has 11 members and of these, five are nominated by the State government. Elections are held for six members who include two
mutavalli representatives, one Muslim member of the AP State Bar Council, two Muslim MPs and one Muslim MLA. The nominated members include one government official not below the rank of deputy secretary, one Shia religious scholar, an eminent Islamic leader and two representatives of eminent Muslim social organisations.
Elections have already been conducted for the MP, MLA and Bar Council slots three years ago. The results are yet to be announced. Now polling will be held for two Mutavalli members on January 16. Once the polling process is over, the government will officially constitute the Wakf Board.
The Board has about 70,000 properties valued at around Rs 50,000 crore. Many Wakf properties have been leased or sold out in the last three years by officials in the absence of the Board. According to sources, the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen has set its eyed on the coveted post of the chairmanship. Incidentally, this is the first time that the MIM wants to have control over the Board.

Wakf Board loses prime 100 acres land

2007
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 4: The State Wakf Board has lost about 100 acres of prime land with lower rung officials in districts issuing no objection certificates to encroachers claiming the Wakf property as their own.
The value of the Wakf land is put at Rs 50 crore. The Wakf properties have been registered in individual names against the Central Wakf Act and the AP Wakf Rules. The sub-registrars okayed the registrations based on the NOCs issued by local inspector-auditor of Wakf.
According to Wakf sources, inspector-auditor of Prakasam district issued NOC to Dr M Venkataramana Maharshi who in turn sold away prime Wakf properties in Pernamitta village of Santanutalapadu mandal. The market value of land in the village is Rs 54 lakh per acre.
The Ashoorkhana in Ongole has landed property extending to 81.80 acres under survey Nos. 159, 164, 192 and 4. The property has been recorded as that of Wakf in the State Gazette.
Maharshi claimed that his mother had purchased the Wakf land without knowing that it belonged to the Wakf Board. He sought exemption but the district registrar refused to register the land. He then approached the local inspector-auditor of Wakf, who issued a no objection certificate, based on which the registrar went ahead with the registration of the land.
In East Godavari district too, prime Wakf land extending more than 10 acres was sold away after the local Wakf official issued NOC to an encroacher. Reports of illegal sale of Wakf properties have also come in from Krishna, Ranga Reddy, Nizamabad, Medak and other districts.
When contacted Wakf Board chief executive officer Madar Saheb said they had called for a report on NOCs and they would take action against the guilty officials. "We have suspended the inspector-auditor of Prakasam district and ordered an inquiry," he said adding that only the Wakf Board has the right to issue such certificates.
In the absence of a fullfledged Board, officials are calling the shot in districts. The Board which had a bank balance of about Rs 30 crore in 2004 is now left with nothing in the coffers. The Board is not even in a position to pay salaries to the staff.

Scam in AP Wakf Board

2006
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 27: The Congress government has issued orders for recovery of honorarium from State Wakf Board former chairman Syed Yousuf Ali, who is presently a general secretary of the Telugu Desam.
This is perhaps the first time that the State government has issued orders for "recovery" of money from a senior politician. Syed Yousuf Ali had drawn Rs 1.46 lakh towards various heads from the State Wakf Board when he was its chairman.
According to Go Rt No.249 dated August 24, 2006, Syed Yousuf Ali had drawn an amount of Rs 16,350 during 1996-97 towards daily allowance while attending office. This is irregular as received a monthly honorarium. Besides payment of honorarium to the chairman, the Board has no provision for making payment of daily allowance while attending office. The GO directed that the amount claimed by Yousuf Ali be "recovered immediately".
The government order noted that Yousuf Ali had claimed Rs 300 per day as daily allowance while on tour, though he was eligible for just Rs 120 per day. The difference of Rs 14,400 will be recovered from the former chairman.
He also incurred Rs 1.46 lakh towards taxi hire charges along with diesel expenses. The government wanted the amount claimed to be recovered as vehicles were available in the Board, apart from a new vehicle purchased for the chairman.
Principal secretary (minorities welfare) M Chaya Ratan directed that State Wakf Board chief executive officer recover the amount from Yousuf Ali and "send a compliance report to the government".
Interestingly, the proceedings against Yousuf Ali were launched during the previous Telugu Desam regime. The issue has been pending for the last five years and the present Congress government accepted the audit report now.
Yousuf Ali, who held dual posts of Wakf Board chairman and government whip, drew perks from both the Wakf Board and the State Assembly. Government norms stipulate that a person should draw perks only from one department irrespective of the number of posts being held by him.
The Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee demanded that penal action be taken against the Telugu Desam general secretary for "violation" of norms. It wondered how the TD leadership had made such an "undeserving person" as a party general secretary.

AP Wakf Board politics: Files pending for 26 years cleared

2006
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Aug 11: The State Wakf Board finally clears hundreds of important files after sitting on them for full 26 years.
The Board kept pending thousands of files since 1979 locking up the fate of its prime lands under encroachments. A few crore of Rupees was also held up in the process. The Wakf Board also failed to account for the money spent on its monthly meetings for the past one decade.
"We have taken up the file clearance work after noticing that many important files have been pending for more than two decades. So far we have closed a few hundred files. Many files are still pending and we will close them soon," special officer SA Huda told this correspondent.
The State Wakf Board is the richest Muslim endowment body in the country with properties running into at least Rs 35,000 crore. However, most of the landed properties of the Board are either under encroachment or locked up in legal battles.
Thanks to non-clearance of files the board suffered financial losses. Now that the file clearance process has begun, Board officials hope to recover the pending money from various sources. "Once all the files are cleared, we will know how much money is owed to the Board and which of its properties are under encroachment. This will streamline the entire process in the board," points out Wakf Board chief executive officer SM Ahmad Ali Khan.
The Board recently recovered Rs 6.8 crore from Visakhapatnam district collector pending for almost five years. It has initiated the process to recover Rs 80 lakh interest accrued on the principal amount. The money pertained to the sale of Wakf lands in Visakhapatnam and the Board could not pursue the matter with the district collector as it had been kept pending all these years.

Women manages AP Wakf Institutions

2006
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, June 8: In a revolutionary decision, the Andhra Pradesh State Wakf Board has handed over the control of 11 prime Wakf properties to an all women panel in the city.
The five-member womencommittee under the presidentship of Salma Jalees was constituted on May 23. On Thursday the Board handed over the management of 11 Wakf properties to the committee.
The women members will protect, manage and develop these Wakf properties spread across twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This is the first time that women are controlling Muslim endowment properties in the country.
The committee has been entrusted with the job of paying seven per cent Wakf Fund to the Board. It will spend 10 per cent on maintenance of the institutions and the remaining 83 per cent will be spent on welfare activities. Till now these 11 institutions were under the direct management of the Wakf Board.
The Muslim clergy in the city has reacted sharply to the Board's decision. In an oral fatwa, Moulana Mufti Abdul Moghni of Sabeelus Salam, an influential religious institution of higher learning, described the move as irreligious and against the spirit of the Wakf Act. Moulana Syed Shah Badruddin Al-Qadri Al-Jeelani, chief patron of Sunni Ulema Board also described the appointment as un-Islamic.

AP Wakf Board politics

2006
By Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, April 17: Bureaucratic one-upmanship in the State Wakf Board has severely affected its functioning in the past one month with the present special officer reversing some of the welfare decisions taken by his predecessor, including promotions to board employees.
In one go, special officer Muhammmad Shafeequzzama issued orders withholding promotions to as many as 28 employees given by previous special officer Syed Anwarul Huda since June last year. When Wakf employees raised a hue and cry, Shafeequzzama withdrew his orders. He, however, set a deadline of March 1, 2006 and all promotions given to employees after that date stand cancelled.
While 22 employees were promoted between June 2005 and February 28, six employees got promotions after March 2006. The six employees include two senior assistants (promoted as superintendents), one assistant engineer (executive engineer) and three assistant secretaries (promoted as deputy secretaries). Their promotions, given by Huda just before he demitted office, now stand cancelled.
"The promotions were against rules. So I have formed a three-member committee to look into the rules. Untill the committee gives its report, the promotions given from June 2005 to February 28, 2006 stands good. We will take a decision based on the panel's report. However, the promotions after March 1, 2006 stand cancelled as there are no posts of executive engineer and deputy secretary in the State Wakf Board," Shafeequzzama told this correspondent.
According to Wakf sources, the decisions taken by previous special officer, who belongs to IPS cadre) are being reversed now purely because of bureaucratic clash as the present incumbent belongs to IAS stream.
Even a purely welfare measure like grant of widow pensions has been stopped. The present officer has stopped issuing cheques even for the beneficiaries already selected by his predecessor.
In the absence of a full-fledged governing body for the Wakf Board, the country's richest Muslim endowment body, special officers have been ruling the roost, often reversing their own decisions. The board suffered huge financial loss in the past 20 months. Congress government has been postponing elections to the Wakf Board because of legal hurdles.

5000 Muslim bodies refuse to register with AP Wakf Board

2005
From Syed Akbar
Hyderabad, Nov 5: The State Wakf Board is in trouble with about 5000 Muslim institutions with several properties attached to them refusing to register with it.
Section 36 of the Wakf Act 1995 makes it mandatory for management committees of mosques, dargahs chillas and other Muslim institutions to obtain registration with the State Wakf Board. The Survey Commissionerate of Wakfs, which is carrying out the second survey of Wakf institutions in the State after a gap of five decades, noticed that many Muslim bodies which came into existence after the first survey are not registered with the Wakf Board. The violation was more pronounced in Kurnool, Nellore, Prakasam, Medak and Hyderabad districts. Hyderabad city alone has about 400 unregistered Wakf bodies.
"We noticed that in Vizianagaram district about 100 Wakf bodies have failed to register themselves with the State Wakf Board. After a lot of persuation and warnings only a dozen have agreed for registration. The management committees are apprehensive that the Wakf Board will have complete control over the properties once they get registered with it. But we told them that registered wakf properties are more secure from encroachments," assistant survey commissioner (Wakf) MA Hameed Khan told this correspondent.
In the absence of properties not being registered as "Wakf", the Landgrab Court and the AP Wakf Tribunal would not entertain cases of encroachments. The government will also not pay compension in case of land acquisition from such institutions. It will also give scope for management committees of unregistered Wakf bodies to resort to corrupt practices like swindling of funds and sale of properties. The Board will lose revenue as every registered Wakf property has to pay six per cent of its income towards Wakf Fund.
So far in the second survey the wakf properties in the State increased by about 90 per cent both in terms of assets and institutions. The board, which had under its control 35,200 institutions when it was formed five decades ago, is now the proud custodian of 64,222 Wakf bodies spread across the State. The extent of land attached to Wakf institutions has also gone up from 1.33 lakh acres to 1.70 lakh acres. The net value of the Wakf Board is now estimated to be around Rs 65,000 crore, up from the earlier Rs 35,000 crore.
The ongoing second survey of Wakf properties has thus far identified 29,000 new Wakf institutions with landed properties extending to 40,000 acres. The survey has been completed in 15 districts and is at varying stages of completion in Hyderabad, Kurnool, Mahbubnagar, Medak, Rangareddy, Nizamabad and Visakhapatnam districts.
Once the survey is completed in these districts and the unregistered bodies secure registration from the Board, the total number of Wakf institutions and the extent of Wakf land will go up further. It is estimated that another 6000 Wakf institutions will be added to the list when the survey/registration is completed.