New Delhi, Jul 21 (PTI) Halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the process to reconstitute the Delhi Waqf Board has started with the appointment of a returning officer for election of a board member (an MLA), officials said Tuesday.

The post fell vacant after assembly elections earlier this year.

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Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was also chairman of the Board, ceased to be a member after announcement of the polls in Delhi, the officials said.

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"The district magistrate (Central) has been appointed returning officer for election of the Waqf Board member (MLA). He was appointed earlier this month,” said a senior Delhi government officer.

He said the exercise may take more time to complete as officials are engaged in COVID-19-related works.

The Waqf's seven-member board includes four elected ones -- an MLA, a current or former Member of Parliament, mutawalli (manager or custodian) and a Bar Council member.

The nominated members include a Delhi government officer (this post is also vacant), a social worker and a Muslim scholar.

The Delhi government will have to nominate some officer to fill the vacant government official-member post, a Waqf Board officer said.

Amanatullah Khan, who won from the Okhla seat once again with a huge margin, is a frontrunner for the post of member -MLA.

The ruling AAP has five Muslim MLAs, but the member-MLA has always been elected unopposed, officials said.

The Waqf Board is the custodian of over 2,000 properties such as mosques, graveyards, schools, residential buildings, shops and land parcels across the national capital.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)