India News | Parliament Panel on Waqf Circulates Draft Report; 'farce', Says Opposition

New Delhi, Jan 26 (PTI) Seeking to allay fears that existing Waqf properties will be subject to scrutiny after the amended Waqf law comes into force, a parliamentary panel on Tuesday recommended that no cases will be reopened against such properties on a retrospective basis, provided the asset is not in dispute or belongs to the government.

In its 655-page draft report, the Joint Committee on Waqf Amendment Bill made it clear that the provisions to omit the 'waqf by user' definition of a waqf property will be with prospective effect.

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"The committee, in order to evade such apprehensions, proposes that a proviso clearly specifying that the omission of 'waqf by user' from the definition of waqf will apply prospectively, i.e., the cases of existing waqf properties already registered as 'waqf by user' will not be reopened and will remain as waqf properties, even if they do not have a waqf deed," the draft report said.

However, the property in question should not be wholly or in part involved in a dispute or be a government property, the committee said.

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The committee chaired by BJP leader Jagdambika Pal is scheduled to meet on Wednesday to deliberate and adopt the report.

Opposition leaders, meanwhile, slammed the convening of the meeting at a short notice, contending that they do not have enough time to study the draft report.

"The parliamentary committee on Waqf Bill has been reduced to a farce. We were told that the draft report of the committee and its bill will be discussed tomorrow at 10 am. It is a 655-page report which has been sent to us just now," DMK leader A Raja said.

Raja said the MPs are expected to go through it, provide comments and submit dissent notes.

"This is simply not possible. What is the point of an independent parliamentary committee if the government does as it pleases anyway," the former Union minister asked.

Congress member Mohammed Jawed accused the BJP of trying to silence the voices of the opposition to take control of waqf properties.

"This is how the BJP operates -- rushing through processes, silencing voices, and pushing their agenda to take control of waqf properties. This isn't just about land; it's about our rights, our identity, and our community's future," Jawed said.

"We can't let this happen. We have to stand up and oppose this together," the Congress member from Bihar's Kishanganj said.

The committee has also favoured audits of "significant incomes" from waqf properties to improve accountability and to ensure better transparency in their administration.

The amendment approved by the committee states that the accounts of waqf having income of more than Rs 1 lakh shall be audited annually.

The other amendments adopted by the panel include a decision to do away with vesting any inquiry into disputes over a government property with the district collector concerned.

The amendment said the "state government may by notification designate an officer above the rank of collector" to carry out an inquiry, as per law.

This provision was also questioned by Muslim bodies, which pointed out that the collector who is also the head of revenue records cannot be an impartial judge to such disputes.

One of the biggest objections was on the inclusion of non-Muslims to the Waqf Board.

One of the changes accepted by the panel said "two of total members of the board appointed under this sub-section, excluding ex-officio members, shall be non-Muslim".

The phrase "excluding ex-officio members" did not feature in the Bill. This, as per sources, will allow the Waqf Board to have even four non-Muslim members instead of two.

(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)