Ajay Tewari, J. (Oral):-This appeal has been filed against concurrent judgments of the Courts below dismissing the suit of the plaintiff for permanent injunction restraining defendants No.1 to 6 from interfering in his possession over the land in dispute on the ground that he was a lessee of the Punjab Wakf Board.

2. It may be mentioned that the dispute was raised by the respondents on the ground that the land in dispute was a part of a Muslim graveyard since time immemorial and that neither the appellant was an existing lessee nor in fact could the Wakf Board-respondent No.7 grant any lease of this property to the appellant. Both the Courts have dismissed the suit on the preliminary finding that the appellant was not able to prove himself to be an existing lessee and that he did not prove himself to be in possession of the land in dispute.

3. Learned counsel for the appellant has not been able to persuade me that these findings of fact are either perverse or can be held to be not arising from the material on record. On this ground alone, the appeal is liable to be dismissed.

4. However, there is another disquieting feature which has emerged in this case; and that is the very act of respondent No.7-Wakf Board in claiming a right to lease out this property either to the appellant or to some other person. In my opinion, this is a complete perversion of the Act. In this connection, Section 32 of the Wakf Act, 1995 (for short as “the Act”) is relevant and reads thus :-

“32. Powers and function of the Board.—(1) Subject to any rules that may be made under this Act, the general superintendence of all wakfs in a State shall vest in the Board established or the State; and it shall be the duty of the Board so to exercise its powers under this Act as to ensure that the wakfs under its superintendence are properly maintained, controlled and administered and the income thereof is duly applied to the objects and for the purposes for which such wakfs were created or intended :

Provided that in exercising its powers under this Act in respect of any wakf, the Board shall act in conformity with the directions of the wakf, the purposes of the wakf and any usage or custom of the wakf sanctioned by the school of Muslim law to which the wakf belongs.

Explanation.—For the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that in this sub-section, “wakf” includes a wakf in relation to which any scheme has been made by any court of law, whether before or after the commencement of this Act.

(2)Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, the functions of the Board shall be-

(a) to maintain a record containing information relating to the origin, income, object and beneficiaries of every wakf;

(b) to ensure that the income and other property of wakfs are applied to the objects and for the purposes for which such wakfs were intended or created;

(c) to give directions for the administration of wakfs;

(d) to settle schemes of management for a wakf :

Provided that no such settlement shall be made without giving the parties affected an opportunity of being heard;

(e) to direct—

(i) the utilisation of the surplus income of a wakf consistent with the objects of a wakf;

(ii) in what manner the income of a wakf, the objects of which are not evident from any written instrument, shall be utilized;

(iii) in any case where any object of wakf has ceased to exist or has become incapable of achievement, that so much of the income of the wakf as was previously applied to that object shall be applied to any other object, which shall be similar, or nearly similar or to the original object or for the benefit of the poor or for the purpose of promotion of knowledge and learning in the Muslim community :

Provided that no direction shall be given under this clause without giving the parties affected an opportunity of being heard.

Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, the powers of the Board shall be exercised—

(i) in the case of a Sunni wakf, by the Sunni