Why in News?

The Ministry of Minority Affairs is delving into instruments to expedite cases of dispute on Waqf properties.

• In order to assess the functioning of the Waqf boards and the Waqf Act, 1995, the Ministry even held a meeting with Waqf Board CEOs from 20 States.

Background

• There are more than 58,000 complaints related to disputes on properties declared as Waqf properties, with 18,426 such cases with Waqf tribunals.
• There are 165 cases related to Waqf disputes before the Supreme Court and High Courts across the country.
• There is no provision for ‘persons affected by identification of a property as Waqf’ in the existing system.
• Once a property is declared as Waqf’s, it can only be contested in a tribunal, but the tribunals have no power to grant stay and there is no timeline for disposal of such cases by the tribunals.
• The Ministry is specifically looking at the following two contentious issues:
• The issue of ‘Waqf by User’, in which a plot of land or building, or a portion of it, when used for religious purposes, can be declared Waqf by User, even if the asset is not granted as a Waqf property by the owner.
• Waqf created for Waqifs’ family or children and is used as an instrument of succession.

Legal Provisions

Waqf

• The law of waqf is the most important branch of Mohammedan Law for it is interwoven with the entire religious, social, and economic life of Muslims.
• The word waqf means ‘detention’.
• The Waqf Act, 1954 defines Waqf as, “Waqf means the permanent dedication by a person professing the Islam, of any movable or immovable property for any purpose recognized by Muslim Law as religious, pious, or charitable.”

Essential conditions for a Valid Waqf:

• Permanent dedication: The dedication of waqf property must be permanent. The motive behind Waqf is always religious.
• Competency: A Muslim making a waqf must be of:
  • Sound mind
  • A major
• Right to make waqf: A person having the capacity, but no right cannot constitute a valid waqf. The subject matter of waqf should be owned by wakif at the time when waqf is made.

Creation of Waqf

• Muslim law does not prescribe any specific way of creating a Waqf.
• If the essential elements as described above are fulfilled, a Waqf is created.
• Though it can be said that a Waqf is usually created in the following ways –
  • By an act of a living person
  • By will
• By Usage

Waqf Act, 1995

• The Waqf Act, 1995 was enacted and implemented on November 22, 1995.
• This Act established the Central Waqf Council and the State Waqf Board.
• In 2013, this Act was further amended to give unlimited powers to Waqf Boards to snatch anyone's property, which even could not be challenged in any court of law.
• This Act describes the power and restrictions of a Waqf Tribunal that acts in lieu of a civil court under its jurisdiction.