Supreme Court Restores Autonomy to Kerala Waqf Board, Modifies High Court Order

Supreme Court's Ruling on Waqf Board Autonomy

New Delhi: In a pivotal decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the removal of a specific part of an interim ruling from the Kerala High Court, which mandated that the state Waqf Board operate under the oversight of a joint secretary.

The Supreme Court bench, consisting of Chief Justice Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, reinstated the Board's independence by altering the High Court's directive and resolving the appeals against it.

The bench noted that the initial line of paragraph 6 from the High Court's order, which restricted the Board from engaging in capital expenditures without court approval, did not necessitate the retention of the concluding line of that paragraph.

As a result, the requirement for the Board to operate under the supervision of a government joint secretary has been revoked. The joint secretary will continue to serve as a Board member but without supervisory duties. The case is set to be reviewed by the High Court tomorrow, with instructions for it to promptly adjudicate the matter while allowing all parties to present their claims and counterclaims.

Previously, on July 15, the Kerala High Court had prohibited the Waqf Board from making significant decisions without its consent.

Additionally, it had mandated that the Board refrain from incurring any capital expenses or implementing policy changes without explicit court permission, according to a senior advocate involved in the case.

These interim measures were enacted while the High Court addressed a series of public interest litigations (PILs) that alleged the Board was operating unlawfully due to the absence of two non-Muslim members, as stipulated by the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act.

Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the Waqf Board, criticized the High Court's ruling, arguing that the Board members had not received copies of the petitions prior to the issuance of such a significant order.

During the proceedings, Justice Bagchi raised concerns about the necessity of halting the Board's operations over membership composition issues, questioning, 'Why should the Board be stopped solely for this reason? Let's suspend paragraph 6 of the High Court's order.'

Jaideep Gupta, a senior advocate for the Kerala government, informed the bench that the matter was already scheduled for a hearing in the High Court.

Ahmadi accused the state of siding with the petitioners challenging the Board, stating, 'Why are you backing the petitioner? It's clear to anyone with common sense that you are supporting them.'

The bench concluded that there was no valid reason to maintain the portion of paragraph 6 that required the Waqf Board to operate under the supervision of the state government's joint secretary responsible for Waqf issues.

However, the bench clarified that the joint secretary could remain a member of the Board but not in a supervisory role.