MUMBAI, 26 June 2007 — Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was severally reprimanded by the chairman of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) Lal Jan Basha over the sale of waqf properties in the state at a meeting with the chief minister, a day ahead of his departure to the United States.
Basha told Deshmukh: “Every inch and square of waqf land is property of the waqf board and the government has no right or authority to take it away.” This harsh comment of the Maharashtra government by Basha has spelt trouble for Deshmukh, who is alleged to have used his political clout to hand over plum 9 acres of waqf land at a prime location in the heart of Aurangabad district to his younger brother Dilip Deshmukh, director of Nirman Bharati Landmarks Private Limited. The waqf property estimated to be worth Rs. 200 million was sold for a amount far less than the market price.
As per Maharashtra government’s gazette of 1973, the waqf property purchased by Dilip Deshmukh clearly mentions that it is a waqf property which was illegally transferred in 1957. According to law, a waqf property cannot be sold to anyone. When the chief minister was asked about the sale of Waqf land to his brother, he was dismissive and said “The Waqf Board can go ahead and take action. The government will always support the truth.”
But what remains to be seen is as to whether the state Waqf Board will muster the guts to take action when the person in the dock is the younger brother of the Chief Minister himself? To appease the JPC on Waqf, Deshmukh announced that the government would give Rs. 15 crore to the Maharashtra Waqf Board to streamline its works and strengthen its existing infrastructure and also assured that the government would clear the encroachments on Waqf lands within next six weeks. The chief minister said that he was willing to amend the Waqf Board Act in order to make eviction of illegal occupants in Waqf properties easier.
The JPC was in the state for several days visiting Aurangabad and Mumbai probing into allegations of misappropriation in the state Waqf Board and illegal occupation of Waqf properties in the state. There are around 4 lak Waqf properties in Maharashtra. There have also been accusations against some real state sharks to have taken control of Waqf properties in the state.
Basha said that under 1995 Act of Central Waqf Board all properties coming under state Waqf boards are the properties of the Muslim community and these properties should be managed properly and these properties should be used to improve the lot of Muslim community in the state. He said that intelligent use of these properties can have a great impact on the Muslim community of the state.
One member of the JPC went to the extent of questioning the chief minister as to how despite a Congress government in the state Waqf properties are being usurped by real state companies and Waqf board in such a bad condition. The committee also visited the Waqf property on Alta Mount Road in Mumbai that was sold off to business behemoth Reliance Industries.
The members of the JPC who met the chief minister included Lal Jan Pasha, Mutiur Rahman, Anwar Husain, Tariq Anwar, Kabiruddin Ahmad. The Joint Parliamentary Committee that consists of 20 Lok Sabha and 10 Rajya Sabha members was first formed in the year 2000. It was reconstituted in the year 2006.
Alarmed by the growing incidents of Waqf properties being sold illegally at far less costs, an Action Committee of prominent Muslim activists was set up under the leadership of renowned lawyer Ishtiaq Ali, former advocate general of Up A.A. Kazmi, well known film producer director Farouk Nadiadwala, writer and director Mujeeb Khan, some Muslim journalists and politicians. This group is planning to call a press conference and also file a writ in the Mumbai High Court against the sale of the Waqf properties in the state.
