Kochi, Dec 10 The Kerala High Court on Tuesday said it will pass an interim order staying the dispossession notices issued to those claiming to be land owners amid the Munambam land dispute with the Waqf Board, but noted that since the matter is essentially a land dispute, hence, they should move a civil suit.
"You have to get a declaration that you are the owners. The High Court cannot decide a disputed question of fact. We can give an interim stay and it will continue till you obtain a fresh interim stay... We will not permit you to challenge it (the Waqf Act) like this. You will challenge as per your convenience? We will grant you a stay of dispossession till you file a suit and then you can seek a fresh injunction. We will protect you," the court orally remarked.
The bench made the observations while considering a petition moved by land owners seeking to strike down various provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995.
Over the last month, around 600 parties, claiming to have purchased land from the committee of Farook College, Kozhikode, before the enactment of the Waqf Act, have been protesting after they received notices from the Waqf Board stating that the ownership of the land vests with it.
Since then, the Board has taken steps to evict them and on its request, the State Revenue Department has allegedly declined to issue a Record of Rights (RoR) or mutation of documents.
Since then Munambam has seen protests and political parties have been divided, both between and amongst themselves, on the matter.
It was at this time eight parties claiming to be purchasers of various portions of the Farook College land in Munambam, approached the High Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the Act.
"In the (Waqf) Act, there is no safeguarded for non-Islamic communities to save their religious and private properties from being included in the list of Waqf issued by the government or by the Waqf Boards and other religious communities are being discriminated and the impugned provisions violate articles 14, 15, 25, 27, and 300-A of the Constitution of India," the plea said.
"The Waqf Boards, in an arbitrary manner, without due process of law, taking advantage of undue powers under the Act, capture lands of other communities and even the government and land over which no Muslim may have any right or claim," the plea alleged.
The petitioners further stated that it is discriminatory to single out Waqf properties from the operation of the Limitation Act which lays down the law on adverse possession and recovery of possession.
"There is no valid reason to grant exemption from Limitation Act only for recovery of Waqf properties, it is equal for all religious properties," they argued, citing this, among other grounds, to strike down certain sections of the Waqf Act.
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