The Maharashtra government will bring in a legislation to restore illegally acquired Wakf properties, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh.
MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government will bring in a legislation to restore illegally acquired Wakf properties, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Wednesday.
The bill, based on a similar law enacted by neighbouring Karnataka, will be introduced in the next session of the state legislature, Deshmukh said while replying to a debate on alleged irregularities in Wakf land deals in the state.
The issue was raised in the House by Leader of Opposition Ramdas Kadam and others. A judicial commission set up to probe all Wakf land deals in the state has been asked to submit an interim report within six months, Deshmukh said.
Replying to allegations by some opposition members regarding transfer of a property at the Altamount Road in Mumbai to Mukesh Ambani's firm Antilia, Deshmukh said the company has been issued a notice seeking an explanation as to why the land should not be restored to the Wakf Board.
Deshmukh denied charges levelled by CPI-M MLA Narsayya Adam that post-facto signatures were made on some documents pertaining to the Antilia deal.
Responding to charges by BJP member Devendra Phadanvis and others that Nirman Bharti Landmark, a company in which his brother Dilip Deshmukh was earlier a director, had acquired Wakf land at Aurangabad, Deshmukh said even the Supreme Court had ruled that this was not Wakf land.
Pointing out that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had approved a resolution in September 2002 for changing the reservation of the Altamount Road plot, Deshmukh said Antilia acquired the land from the Currimbhoy Orphanage Trust through a public auction.
"Anyway, we sent a notice to the company earlier this month seeking restoration of the property to the Board. They have been given time to explain their stance, after which the government will proceed with further course of action," he said.
"It is not my intention or the intention of my government to protect any individual or organisation that has indulged in an illegal transaction," Deshmukh said.
"There is a common allegation that since state Wakf Board chairman M A Aziz also belongs to my Marathwada region, I am favouring him. There is no truth in these charges," he said.
Referring to his party colleague and Wakf Minister Anees Ahmed, who has been at loggerheads with him over the Wakf issue in the recent past, Deshmukh said, "He is a young and energetic minister.
"There is democracy in our party and people are free to air their differences."
Taking a dig at BJP members, Deshmukh said, "You danced atop the Babri masjid once and are now taking up cudgels for Wakf land."
Turning down the opposition's demand for appointing a sitting judge for the judicial commission, Deshmukh said the CID would probe "specific cases" as suggested by the Qadri inquiry committee.
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