Hyderabad: The Telangana State Wakf Board has drawn up a draft legislation that calls for stringent provisions regarding the protection of its properties and eviction of encroachers.
Wakf properties are currently governed by the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2013, a Central Act, but officials of the state Wakf Board believe — and have stated — that its provisions are insufficient to discourage encroachers and does not give them enough powers to evict squatters or demolish encroachments.
The 2013 amendment had removed the power of the chief executive officer by entrusting the power of eviction to the Wakf Tribunal, they added.
According to the senior officials from the Board, the proposed law, to be called the Telangana State Waqf Properties (Prohibition of Grabbing and Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, will empower the chief executive to pass eviction orders instead of seeking order from the Tribunal for eviction. The chief executive officer’s orders will be binding on revenue officials and police authorities, Mr Mohammed Asadullah, CEO of the Wakf Board, said.
It would also empower the CEO to collect damages from persons who have taken illegal advantage of Wakf lands by erecting permanent structures without permission, even after their complete eviction.
He added that the proposed legislation has a provision to provide the CEO with a demolition squad headed by an officer not below the rank of inspector of police and at least 10 constables and other support staff. The squad will get support of the police by law to help carry out demolition of encroachments or eviction of squatters.
New Bill inspired by existing Act
The Telangana State Wakf Board has prepared the proposed Telangana State Waqf Properties (Prohibition of Grabbing and Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act 2016 on the lines of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
The Sachar Committee and the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Wakf had recommended that the 1971 Act should be applied to Waqf properties as they are for the benefit of the public and not for any individual.
The JPC had observed that Section 54 of the Central Wakf Act is not stringent enough to deal with encroachment or illegal occupation of Wakf properties. In its third report, the JPC stated that all state governments may bring the Wakf properties under the 1971 Act. Only the state governments of Karnataka, Rajasthan and Tripura have done it so far.
However, the Union ministry for urban development had objected, pointing out that Wakf properties were not owned or hired by the government and could not be covered under the 1971 Act, according to Mr Mohammed Asadullah, chief executive officer of the state Wakf Board. The Union law and justice ministry had also advised that it was not legally feasible to include Wakf properties in the 1971 Act.
Following this opinion, the state Wakf board had decided to recommend a special enactment for the purpose, he said.
The Bill is now being checked by the law department of the state for scrutiny and the government will soon place it before the Assembly as soon as possible, he added.
