Kerala High Court gives state 4 weeks to fill Waqf Board vacancies

KOCHI: The High Court on Wednesday granted the state administration four weeks to fill the vacancies in the Kerala State Waqf Board, recording the advocate general's submission that steps had already been initiated in line with the amended Waqf Act.

Key points

• Counsel for the petitioners argued that the state administration constituted the board without complying with Section 14 of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act.
• It is for the state administration to take action in accordance with law, a division bench, comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syakumar VM, stated.
• The state administration informed the court that the Supreme Court is considering a similar problem concerning the constitution of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board.
• The court issued the order on a batch of petitions challenging the constitution of the State Waqf Board without non-Muslim members.
• They additionally contended that the exclusion of members of the Bohra and Agakhani communities was illegal.

"At this stage, we are only seized with the difficulty of proper functioning of the Waqf Board, where admittedly there are three vacancies. Since the state has initiated the process and has taken a stand that the state is going to take steps for filling up the vacancies, we adjourned this matter for a period of four weeks so as to enable the state to take appropriate steps for filling up the vacancies, " it remarked.

In practice, the state administration informed the court that the Supreme Court is considering a similar problem concerning the constitution of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board. It submitted that it was ready to reconstitute the Waqf Board at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the court issued the order on a batch of petitions challenging the constitution of the State Waqf Board without non-Muslim members.

For context, the administration submitted that a number of other petitions, including those filed by the Indian Union Muslim League and the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, challenging the inclusion of non-Muslims on the board, are pending before the court.

Counsel for the petitioners argued that the state administration constituted the board without complying with Section 14 of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act. Waqf Board: Govt replaces addl secy.

They contended that the notification did not provide for the mandated representation of two non-Muslims, one member each from the Shia and Other Backward Classes among Muslims, and one each from the Bohra and Agakhani communities.

In the absence of such representation, they argued, the Board could not function. The court directed the state administration to take expeditious steps to fill the remaining vacancies.

For context, the petitioners argued that the state had violated the third proviso to Section 14(1) of the Act by failing to include one member each from the Shia, Sunni and Backward Class Muslim communities.

They additionally contended that the exclusion of members of the Bohra and Agakhani communities was illegal. As required under the Act, the state, nevertheless, submitted that such representation could be provided only after determining the number of members belonging to the Shia, Sunni, Agakhani, Bohra and other Backward Class communities.

Notably, the state informed the court that the nomination of the extra secretary to the law department had been withdrawn and that the joint secretary handling Waqf matters had been nominated in his place.

For now, kerala High Court gives state 4 weeks to fill Waqf Board vacancies remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.