Waqf Tribunal Has No Jurisdiction Over Suits Instituted In Civil Court Before Commencement Of Waqf Act: Madhya Pradesh HC
The Madhya Pradesh High Court observed that under Section 7(5) of the Waqf Act, 1995 (the Act), a Waqf Tribunal does not have jurisdiction over matters that are the subject of any suit or proceeding instituted in a civil court before the commencement of the Act.
A Single Bench of Justice Sanjay Dwivedi observed, “The Tribunal could not have decided the suit which was transferred to Tribunal because the Waqf Act, 1995 was not applicable in the said pending proceeding and the Tribunal should not have decided the suit having no jurisdiction.”
Advocate R.K. Sanghi represented the applicants, while Advocate Utkarsh Agrawal appeared for the respondents.
The Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board (Board) filed a lawsuit seeking a declaration that the disputed land, historically recognised as Qabristan, was a Waqf property. The plaintiffs requested various reliefs, including setting aside previous mutations and construction permissions, injunctions against further construction, and possession of the suit land.
It was argued that the suit land was historically maufi land, granted to Fakirs known as Takiyadars, who managed the land and its resources.
The Court clarified, “Although, Section 85 provides a specific bar of jurisdiction for the civil court but the Tribunal has lost sight to see the implication of Section 85 and also of the provisions of Act, 1995. Said embargo upon the jurisdiction of the civil court is in respect of the dispute arises after implication of the Act, 1995.”
The Bench observed that Section 7(5) of the Act stated that the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction over matters that were the subject of any suit or proceeding instituted in a civil court before the commencement of the Act.
“It is also not in dispute that the Tribunal itself has observed that the basic dispute involved in the suit was whether the suit property related to waqf or not but the Tribunal has not considered the impact of Subsection (5) of Section 7 of Waqf Act, 1995,” the Court remarked.
The Supreme Court too had dealt with similar issues regarding the jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal in Sardar Khan v. Syed Najmul Hasan (Seth) (2007) and had clarified that the Tribunal did not have jurisdiction over matters that were the subject of suits or proceedings in civil courts before the commencement of the Waqf Act, 1995.
Consequently, the Court held that the judgment and decree passed by the Tribunal was illegal and contrary to Section 7(5) of the Act, and was therefore set aside.
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the civil revision.
Cause Title: Smt. Rubab Bai & Ors v. Madhya Pradesh Wakf Board & Ors.
Appearance:
Applicant: Advocates R.K. Sanghi, Siddharth Kumar Sharma and Shri Ashish Giri
Respondents: Advocate Utkarsh Agrawal
