IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
Anand Pathak, J.
Akeela Bee v. Madhya Pradesh Wakf Board, Bhopal
Civil Revision No. 622 of 2022, 625 of 2022, 624 of 2022, 623 of 2022, 653 of 2022, 654 of 2022, 655 of 2022, 656 of 2022, 657 of 2022, 658 of 2022 and 659 of 2022 (G); Decided on 4.5.2023
Limitaion Act, 1963 -- S. 3 -- Civil P.C. 1908 -- O. 7 R. 11 -- Wakf Act, 1995 -- Ss. 4, 6 and 7 -- M.P. Wakf Rules, 2000 -- R. 32 -- purchase of land by way of registered sale deed -- proclamation of auction treating it to be of Wakf Board after more than 20 years -- preliminary survey not done -- no notice issued to plaintiff -- line of succession pleaded by plaintiff in suit for declaration of title and permanent injunction -- limitation of one year would not apply -- dismissal of suit on ground of limitation arbitrary and illegal -- suit revived to original number. (2000) 2 SCC 121 followed. (2022) 2 MPLJ 699 referred to. [Paras 9, 10 & 12]
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ORDER
Regard being had to the similitude of the controversy, all cases were heard together and decided by a common order. For convenience sake, facts as narrated in CR.No.622/2022 are taken into consideration.
1. The present civil revision under section 83 of the Wakf Act, 1995 is being preferred against the order dated 18.8.2022 passed by the Madhya Pradesh Wakf Tribunal, Bhopal whereby application filed by the respondent/M.P.Wakf Board under Order 7 rule 11 of CPC read with section 32 of M.P. Wakf Rule, 2000 has been allowed and the suit filed by the petitioner has been dismissed.
2. Petitioner has filed a civil suit before the Wakf Tribunal pleading that a disputed property situate at Survey No.44, Village Gosh Nagar Tehsil Lateri District Vidisha was initially of the ownership of Dauli Bai from whom the plaintiff purchased the property by way of registered sale deed dated 28.4.1997 and since then she is in the possession of the suit property. On 22.2.2018, plaintiff came to know that Tehsildar issued a proclamation of auction of the property treating it to be the property of Wakf Board therefore, the suit has been filed for declaration and permanent injunction. According to the petitioner/revisionist, no revenue record refers that suit property was of Wakf property. Neither survey was carried out nor any opportunity of hearing was given to the plaintiff or her predecessor in title.
3. In response thereof, M.P.Wakf Board filed an application under Rule 32 of M.P. Wakf Rule, 2000 and on the ground of limitation as referred in sections 6 and 7 of the Wakf Act, 1995, prayed for dismissal of suit. On said application Wakf Tribunal dismissed the suit vide impugned order dated 18.8.2022. Therefore, this revision petition has been filed.
4. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that as per section 6A of the Act, 1995, the expression “any person interested therein” as figured in explanation of section 6(1) of Act, 1995 shall include also every person who though not interested in the Wakf concerned, is interested in such property and to whom a reasonable opportunity had been afforded to represent his case by notice served on him in that behalf during the course of the relevant inquiry under section 4 of the Act, 1995. Therefore, by bare reading of provision, it is clear that in order to notify a property as a Wakf Property, the mandatory requirement of preliminary survey as contemplated under section 4 of the Act, 1995 is required to be done. Here no such survey has been conducted nor any opportunity of hearing was given. Therefore, Tribunal erred in passing the impugned order and cause illegality while dismissing the plaint on the basis of limitation.
5. Learned counsel for the petitioner relied upon the judgment of apex Court in the case of in Punjab Wakf Board v. Gram Panchayat Alias Gram Sabha [(2000) 2 SCC 121] and also the judgment of this Court in the case of Ataurrehman v. M.P.Wakf Board, Bhopal and others [(2022) 2 MPLJ 699].
6. Learned counsel for the respondents vehemently opposed the prayer and supported the impugned order. According to him, no illegality or arbitrariness has been caused by the Tribunal in passing the impugned order. Therefore, he prayed for dismissal of this petition.
7. Heard the counsel for the parties and perused the record appended thereto.
8. In the case in hand, petitioner as plaintiff has filed the suit before the Tribunal for declaration of title and permanent injunction. Plaintiff has made specific pleadings that the land in question has been purchased by the plaintiff from Dauli Bai D/o Sikka W/o Shera and she belongs to Scheduled Caste community and sale deed has been executed by way of registered sale deed dated 28.4.1997. Dauli Bai received the land ancestrally from her parents and her father was granted the land by the State Government and his name finds place in Adhikar Abhilekh Patra of 1972-1973. Prior to it, in the year 1995-99 in land record, it was referred as Khal Khaddar and
The court emphasized that claims regarding property status as Wakf must be substantiated with clear evidence, applying provisions of the Wakf Act appropriately in property disputes.
Wakf Tribunal lacked jurisdiction due to prior judgment in a civil suit settling the title, making the subsequent claims non-maintainable under Section 7(5) of the Wakf Act.
The main legal point established in the judgment is that the jurisdiction of the civil court is expressly barred in instances where a dispute falls within the domain of the Wakf Tribunal, as per the ....
Civil courts lack jurisdiction over disputes involving Wakf properties as per the WAKF ACT, sections 83 and 85, which mandate that such matters be determined by the Wakf Tribunal.
Summary eviction under the A.P. Wakf Act is not permissible in the presence of bona fide disputes regarding property title, necessitating a full trial instead.
The irreversibility of wakf property transactions based on the Wakf Act's provisions prohibits alienation, upholding the integrity of religious and charitable purposes over contested claims.
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