Some community groups are opposing the disbanding of the board.
As the Bombay High Court is on the verge of giving out an important judgment on whether the Maharashtra State Wakf Board (the body that administers thousands of Muslim religious trusts) should be dissolved, some community groups are opposing the disbanding of the board.
Last month, lawyers of Muslim trusts opposing their inclusion in the Wakf list, and government lawyers, finished their arguments. The division bench of Justice DK Deshmukh and Anoop Mohta has kept the case for orders this week.
After the Wakf Act was passed in 1995 and a state Wakf Board constituted in 2002, the jurisdiction of thousands of Muslim public trusts passed from the charity commissioner to the Wakf Board.
However, several large Muslim trusts, including Anjuman-i-Islam approached the high court challenging the jurisdiction of the Wakf Board, arguing that they were public trusts and should continue to be governed by the Bombay Public Trust Act and thus come under the charity commissioner. Wakf trusts are governed by religious laws and hence come under the jurisdiction of the Wakf Board.
Advocate Yusuf Muchhala, who is representing Anjuman-i-Islam and 14 other petitioners in the case, said that Muslims can establish both public and Wakf trusts.
"There is no obligation that charitable institutions have to be created under religious laws. Many Muslims consciously decide to go by the public trust act rather than religious laws," said Muchhala.
There is no reliable data on the number of such trusts, but community groups claim that the trusts own nearly 1,00,000 acres of land in the state. Lately, there have been allegations that the charity commissioner allowed some trusts to sell their land for commercial use, something that is not allowed if they are registered as Wakf trusts.
A survey on the trusts performed in 2002 when the Wakf Board was established is accepted as defective. A group called Maharashtra Wakf Board Bachao Samiti said it will oppose the dissolution of the board. "The charity commissioner has allowed nearly 130 trusts to sell land. The Wakf board should be allowed to function," said Murtuza Bachchan of the group.
Muchchala said, "The Wakf Board has been dysfunctional for the last few years. The board does not have enough members."
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