1. This petition is filed by one Faiz Murtaza Ali praying for modification of an order passed thirteen years ago on 27.8.1993 in M.J.C. Nos. 770, 1010 and 974 of 1993.

2. Heard Mr. Gupta in support of the modification petition.

3. This is yet another attempt to somehow grab and appropriate under personal ownership a prime property commonly known as the Rizwan, located in the heart of the city. For over half a century, it was known to the world as part of a Waqf created by Mr. Syed Hasan Imam, Bar-at-Law, one of the luminaries of the bar of this court. It may be mentioned here that shortly after the demise of Mr. Imam in the third decade of the previous century a dispute arose between his second (English) wife Natie Imam and the children from his first deceased wife. The matter came to this court and at the instance of the court the dispute between the parties was referred to the joint arbitration of two sitting Judges of the court, namely, Macpherson and Khwaja Muhammad Noor JJ. Before the arbitrators Natie Imam claimed that the Rizwan was given to her by her late husband and it was, therefore, her personal property. The arbitrators however, rejected the claim and found and held that the Rizwanwas very much part of the Waqf created by Mr. Hasan Imam. The arbitration award divided the Waqf, and the Rizwan in the ratio of 10 Annas and 6 Annas., Natie Imam was appointed as the Motawalli of the 6 Annas block with her son S.A.H.A.A. Imam @ Tutu Imam as the sole beneficiary. Of the 10 Annas block Mr. Syed Mehdi Imam, the eldest son of Mr. Hasan Imam from his first wife was appointed as the Motawalli with a number of beneficiaries, being the daughters of the waqif and their children. After a while Natie Imam passed away and her son S.A.H.A.A. Imam was appointed in her place as the Motawalli and the sole beneficiary of the 6 Annas block. This arrangement continued for about half a century before S.A.H.A.A. Imam woke up to the idea that the Rizwan was not part of the Waqf but it was his personal property by devolution. He filed suits for. a declaration to this effect and other consequential reliefs. Counter suits were also filed by the other side.

4. Even before a decision could be rendered in any of the suits S.A.H.A.A. Imam and some others took away out of the legal process and started selling properties hitherto part of the waqf at throw-away prices. The sales were made to musclemen who needed just a scrap of pseudo-legal paper to enter the property and dispossess its lawful beneficiaries under the Waqf by muscle power. Many valuable properties of the Waqf were, thus, lost and threat also loomed over the Rizwan".

5. At the time this controversy erupted, the Rizwan was in the occupation of a Central Govt. Organisation as tenant. The rental paid by it was divided in the ratio of the 10 Annas and the 6 Annas between Syed Mehdi Imam, and S.A.H.A.A. Imam, the respective Motawallis of the 10 Annas and the 6 Annas Blocks. At that time the tenant decided to vacate the property and it became all the more vulnerable to unlawful sale(s) and illegal occupation(s) etc. During the long tenancy of the Central Govt. Organisation the property had also suffered encroachments and trespass by strangers and anti-social elements. At that stage the Dist. Magistrate, Patna took steps to evict everyone from the premises of the Rizwan. The steps taken by the Dist. Magistrate were viewed by S.A.H.A.A. Imam as an interference with his rights over the property and he came to this court in writ petitions being CWJC Nos. 98 and 228 of 1992. in CWJC No. 98 of 1992 Mrs. Syeda Mehdi Imam, the widow of Syed Mehdi Imam (who was by then dead) was impleaded as respondent no. 9. Apart from her, a number of others intervened in the proceeding and joined as respondents. One Dr. Ali Ahmad Sami, who claimed to be the duly appointed Motawalli of Hasan Imam Waqf Estate 10 Annas block, including the Rizwan was added as respondent no.10, Shamim Amna Imam daughter of Syed