HC dissolves 'defective' Maharashtra Wakf Board

The Maharashtra State Wakf Board, which administers all Muslim religious trusts, was on Wednesday dissolved by the Bombay High Court, after being held "defective".

A division bench of Justices D K Deshmukh and Anoop Mohta, while passing the order, held that the board was constituted without taking into consideration relevant data indicating the total number of Muslim religious charitable trusts and their categorisation among Shia and Sunni Wakfs.

The court was hearing several petitions, including one filed by the Anjuman-e-Islam trust, which challenged the constitution of the state board.

Yusuf Muchhala, appearing for the trust, contended that under the Wakf Act, the state government was required to undertake a survey of every Muslim religious trust and then take a decision if a composite board or separate board needs to be set up for Shias and Sunnis.

Muchhala pointed out that the state had issued a notification constituting the Wakf board without waiting for the survey report. While the notification was issued on January 4, 2002, the survey report was submitted to the government only on January 31, 2002.

Accepting the arguments of the petitioners, the high court directed for the present Wakf board to be dissolved and for the charity commissioner to take charge until a fresh survey is conducted and a new board is constituted.