The court established that a Waqf must have a public or charitable dedication to be classified as composite; otherwise, it remains a private Waqf, confirming the hereditary nature of the Muthawalli office.

ORDER :

P.B. Balaji, J.

The revision petitioners are the applicants in O.A. No.93 of 2023 before the Waqf Tribunal filed under Section 83(1) and 83(2) of the Wafq Act, 1995 challenging the resolution of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board dated 26.09.2023 and the consequential order of the Chief Executive Officer of the Waqf Board dated 10.11.2023 and also for a permanent injunction to restrain respondents 3 to 6 from in any manner interfering with the administration of Waqf and its properties at the hands of the first applicant/revision petitioner.

2. I have heard Mr.N.A.Nissar Ahamed, learned Senior Counsel for Mrs.I.Kowser Sulthana and Mr.T.Saikrishnan, learned counsel for R1 & R2 and Mr.M.M.I.Kaleel, learned counsel for R3 to R6.

3. The learned Senior Counsel Mr.Nissar Ahamed, would take me through the Waqf Deed dated 18.11.1930, registered as Doc. No.4 of 1931 and contend that the Waqf was a private Waqf created for the benefit of the daughter of the Wakif and there was no dedication of income for any charitable purposes. He would also state that the deed also set out the manner in which the office of the Muthawalli should be occupied, being from the male descendants alone. Referring to the various Clauses of the Waqf Deed, Mr.Nissar Ahamed, learned Senior Counsel would contend that the Board did not have any right to interfere with the administration and management of the Waqf in the first place and even otherwise, the statutory respondents could not have appointed the respondents 3 to 6 who were claiming through a female descendants, which goes against the original deed of Waqf dated 18.11.1930. The learned Senior Counsel would also take me through Section 3, Section 32(a)(j) and Sections 63 as well as 64 of the Waqf Act, 1995.

4. The learned Senior Counsel would also rely on the Hon'ble Division Bench judgment of this Court in Tamil Nadu Waqf Board Vs. M.E.Musuee, reported in 1979 AIR Madras 231 (DB), the decision of the Allahabad High Court in Maulvi Abdul Rahman Siyai Vs. Sardar Maqbool Hasan and Others, in Civil Revision No.355 of 2008 dated 17.12.2008, the judgment of this Court N.Mohamed Younus Sait Vs. S.Sampathraj in CRP. (NPD) No.3258 of 2013, dated 04.06.2020; and The Managing Committee Nesavupettai Shafi Jamath Mosque Vs. A.Mohammed Abdul Khader and Ors, reported in 2025 (1) CTC 848.

5. It is also the submission of Mr.Nissar Ahamed, learned Senior Counsel that merely because a direction was issued by the Waqf Board to pay Rs.1000/- to the sister, in an Application moved by the mother of the respondents 3 to 6, that is the sister of the first petitioner, it would not confer jurisdiction on the Board and he would further contend that there can be no estoppel against statute, in order to assume jurisdiction based on the participation of the first petitioner before the Waqf Tribunal on the complaint made by his sister, regarding non payment of Rs.1000/-.

6. Per contra, Mr.M.M.I.Khaleel, learned counsel for the respondents 3 to 6, would state that the Waqf Deed dated 18.11.1930 was a composite Waqf Deed and not a Waqf Deed simpliciter as the Waqf Deed contemplated performance of annual ceremonies of Wakife, after the death, on a moderate scale by distribution of simple meals annually to 10 poor and deserving persons on each occasion. Referring to the said Clause, the learned Counsel would state that a charitable object being clearly indicated in the Waqf Deed itself, the Waqf Board certainly has jurisdiction to interfere with the matter, in the interests of better administration.

7. In this regard, learned counsel would rely on the decision of this Court in Chairman, Tamil Nadu Waqf Board and another vs. M.S.Mohammed Yahya (died) and Others, reported in 2023 SCC Online Mad 6019. He would further state that the first revision petitioner has been squatting on the Waqf property and therefore, he is ineligible to be a Muthawalli as he has been acting against the interest of the Wakife who founded the Waqf, way back in the year 1930. As