COMMON ORDER

These Writ Petitions are filed by Ilayangudi Muslim Educational Association as against the Gazette Notification dated 22.04.1959 and for a declaration to declare the lands in Survey No.59/1A measuring an extent of 9.96 acres and Survey No.60/1B measuring an extent of 4.45 acres situated at South Illayangudi Village, Sivagangai District as the properties of the petitioner.

2. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, by relying on a deed of Cowle executed by Sivaganga Samasthanam in favour of one K.M.N.Abdul Karim on 27.05.1947, submits that Dewan of Sivaganga Samasthanam on behalf of Zamindar of Sivaganga has executed a deed of Cowle on 27.05.1947 in favour of one K.M.N.Abdul Karim, son of Khalifa Nainamohammed, in respect of the lands in Survey No.59/1A measuring an extent of 9.96 acres and Survey No.60/1B measuring an extent of 4.45 acres for educational purpose. The conditions of the lease deed are extracted hereunder:

8.That the lands shall be used only for the Educational purpose set out in the petition of Janab.K.M.N.Abdul Karim, and for no other purpose.

9.That the School buildings shall be constructed and the School opened within a period of five years from the date of grant.

10.That in the event of any infringement of these conditions the Semasthanam shall be at liberty to resume the grant and take possession of the lands or in the alternative collect the market value of the lands prevailing at ---------------Abdul Karim, N.V.Vidyanathan Iyyer, 5.--------, the time of resumption and then confirm the grant.

3. The deed also states as follows:

The ryot shall enjoy the land permanently at his own will and pleasure by using the same, for the construction of a High School subject to the conditions referred to in paras

8, 9, 10 and 11.

4. The said Abdul Karim has established a School and has given the said lands to the petitioner Association by a registered Cowle dated 24.01.1952 bearing Document No.130/1952, which was duly registered in the Sub-Registrar Office, Ilyangudi. The petitioner Association has also created a Trust in the name of Ilyangudi Muslim Educational Association and applied for CBSE regularisation and is running a School in the said premises. Now, the petitioner has come to know about the Notification issued by the Wakf Board in the year 1959, in and by which, the said properties of this Association have been declared as Wakf properties and therefore, the petitioner has filed a writ petition in W.P(MD).No.2079 of 2020 challenging the Notification dated 22.04.1959 and prior to the said writ petition, the petitioner has filed the writ petition in W.P(MD).No.2077 of 2020 seeking a declaration to declare the lands in Survey No.59/1A measuring an extent of 9.96 acres and Survey No.60/1B measuring an extent of 4.45 acres situated at South Illayangudi Village, Sivagangai District as the properties of the petitioner.

5. The learned counsel appearing for the petitioner, by relying on the provisions under Section 4 of the Wakf Act, 1995, submits that in the event, if the respondents declare the property as wakf property, they ought to have conducted a preliminary enquiry as required under Section 4 of the said Act and shall publish the list of auqaf, as per Section 5 of the Wakf Act, 1959 and only thereafter, the Notification can be made. In this case, there was no survey conducted. The learned counsel has also relied on the judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in the case of B.Gowra Reddy vs. Government of Andhra Pradesh reported in AIR 2002 AP 313, wherein, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, following the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case of Muslim Wakfs Board, Rajasthan vs. Radha Kishan, has held as follows:

28. The respondents have placed before this Court, the letter of the Deputy Tahsildar dated 21-7-1967 and submitted that this report has been approved by the Survey Commissioner to the effect that the property in question was a wakf property and, therefore, it must