The Kerala High Court on Monday adjourned to February 6 for further arguments a writ petition filed by the Kerala Waqf Land Samrakshana Vedi challenging a government order appointing the Ramachandran Nair commission to go into the Munambam land issue.
When the petition came up for hearing, Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas asked whether the government could appoint a commission to inquire into the land issue when there was a judicial finding that it was a Waqf land.
The public importance which had prompted the government to appoint the commission had not been mentioned in the order. The court orally noted that the Waqf board and a civil court had clearly found the land was Waqf property.
Unless and until the Waqf board’s order is varied or modified by the Waqf tribunal, the statutes say that findings of the Waqf board are final.
The court also pointed out that the terms of reference of the commission says that it has been appointed to protect the interest of the bona fide occupants of the land.
The court orally observed that legally the government could not term them as bona fide occupants. “Some take law into their hands, launch agitations, and the government calls them as bona fide occupiers.”
The court also said it was a private dispute between the occupants of the land and persons to whom it originally belonged.
Counsel for the Farook college management submitted that if the court concluded that it was a Waqf property, it would have far-reaching consequences for the college management as well as the persons who had purchased the land from it. In fact, it was not Waqf property and the college received it through a gift deed.
Published – February 03, 2025 08:00 pm IST