The main legal point established in the judgment is the interpretation of the provisions of Section 9 of the Act, 1964 and Section 85 of the Wakf Act to determine the maintainability of the appeal.

1. - In all these three writ petitions, a substantial question of law has been raised as to whether appeal against the order of the Estate Officer under the Rajasthan Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1964 (hereinafter called the Act, 1964") is maintainable before the learned District Judge or before the Wakf Tribunal?

2. Since identical questions of law and facts are involved in all the three petitions, SBCWP No. 4221/2002 is taken to be a leading case.

3. The facts and circumstances giving rise to this case are that petitioner has challenged the order dated 27.9.2002 passed by the Additional District Judge No. 2, Jodhpur, whereby the appeal filed under section 9 of the Act, 1964 has been ordered to be returned to the appellant for presenting the same before the Wakf Tribunal, Jaipur.

4. On 23.4.1994, the Rajasthan Board of Muslim Wakf filed an application before the Estate Officer (Wakf), Jaipur for the eviction of the petitioner on the ground that he was in an unauthorised occupation of the public premises. The Estate Officer issued a notice under section 4(1) of the Act, 1964 and a reply thereto was filed by the petitioner stating that he was not in unauthorised occupation of any public premises. The Estate Officer, however, passed an order for the eviction of the petitioner on 20.3.2002. Being aggrieved, an appeal was filed before the District Judge under section 9 of the Act, 1964, which reads as under :

"(1) An appeal shall lie from every order of the Estate Officer made in i respect of any public premises under section 5 or Section 7 to an appellate officer who shall be the District Judge of the district in which the public premises are situate or such other Judicial Officer in the District of not less than ten years standing as the District Judge may designate in 5 this behalf.

(2) An appeal under sub-section (1) shall be preferred :

(a) in the case of an appeal from an order under section 5, within fifteen days from the date of publication of the order under sub-section (1) of that section; and

(b) in the case of an appeal from an order Under Section 7, within fifteen days from the date on which the order is communicated to the appellant Provided that the appellate officer may entertain the appeal after expiry of the said period of fifteen days if he is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in 15 time.

(3) Where an appeal is preferred from an order of the estate officer, the appellate officer may stay the enforcement of that order for such period and on such conditions as he deems fit.

(4) Every appeal under this section shall be disposed of by the appellate officer as expeditiously as possible.

(5) The costs of any appeal under this section shall be in the discretion of the appellate officers."

5. A bare perusal of Section 9 of the Act, 1964 shows that the District Judge or such other Judicial Officer or any other Judicial Officer is a persona designate and not a civil Court

6. The learned Additional District Judge held that in view of the judgment delivered by this Court (Jaipur Bench) in SBCWP No. 1846/2001, Ghisa v. Estate Officer, decided on 11.12.2001 by the learned Single Judge (Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.K. Keshote), the appeal filed by the petitioner 30 was not maintainable. The learned Court held that the appeal against the order of the Estate Officer can only be filed before the Wakf Tribunal as provided under section 85 of the Wakf Act. The learned Single Judge, in the aforesaid writ petition, held that in view of the provisions of Section 85 of the Wakf Act. the appeal is not maintainable before the District Judge and it can only be filed before the Wakf Tribunal.

7. It is relevant to quote Sec. of the Wakf Act, which reads as under

"No suit or other legal proceedings shall lie in any Civil Court in respect of any dispute, question or other matter relating to any wakf, wakf property or other matter which is required by under this Act to be