All posts tagged: Waqf Tribunal

Munambam: Waqf Tribunal questions validity of Board’s claim over land

Munambam: Waqf Tribunal questions validity of Board’s claim over land

The Waqf Tribunal has questioned the validity of the Kerala Waqf Board’s claim on the Munambam land on the ground that the said land was not registered as Waqf property when the Farook College carried out its sale. In Friday’s hearing, the Tribunal chairman pointed out that there could not be any issue with the sale of the property as it was not registered as Waqf when the sale happened. It was in the 1950s that the property deeds hinting that the said land belonged to the Waqf emerged. The Waqf Act of 1954 states that if a piece of land was discovered to be Waqf property, it has to be registered within three months. Only such a registration gives the Waqf Board power to intervene in matters of the said property. However, the land in question at Munambam was not registered as Waqf property even after the Act came into effect. Instead the registration procedure began only in 2019. The Farook college had sold the property much before that. The Tribunal pointed out to …

Munambam’s long wait for justice

Munambam’s long wait for justice

Residents of Munambam demand revenue rights for their land holdings. | Photo Credit: The Hindu The vexed Munambam land issue refuses to die down in Kerala. Instead, it has taken a new course following recent judicial intervention on the issue. The Kerala State Waqf Board had recently included the disputed land in Munambam coast in Ernakulam, which is inhabited by about 600 families, most of them Christians, in the Waqf register as a Waqf property. The occupants of the land in Munambam have been protesting for more than 150 days demanding that the revenue rights of their holdings be restored. They claim to have purchased the holdings from a trust, for which the property was reportedly given as Waqf in 1950. The protest, which is spearheaded by the Assembly of Christian Trust Services, is supported by Sangh Parivar outfits and some Hindu community organisations. On the other side is the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi, a Muslim outfit dedicated for the restitution of what it terms as alienated Waqf holdings. Sangh Parivar outfits have also attempted …