PUNE, India, 9 May 2008 — Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani created history by constructing the world’s most expensive $2 billion house in Mumbai, but it is mired in controversy as it is being constructed on Waqf property. The Maharashtra State Waqf Board, which has called it illegal, has gone to the Supreme Court, appealing against a Bombay High Court stay given to the Ambanis.
The issue has raised a storm amongst the Muslim community in the state, after state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh on Monday abruptly transferred the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Waqf Board, Abdul Rauf Shaikh, back to his parent Rural Development Department, saying Shaikh’s appointing was contrary to norms.
A contempt petition was filed by the waqf board before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday by A.U. Pathan, a Pune-based lawyer. Pathan challenged the transfer of Shaikh and named Chief Minister Deshmukh, Chief Secretary Johnny Joseph and Deputy Secretary Avinash Hazare as respondents.
In the contempt petition, Pathan argued that since another case where Shaikh’s appointment as the CEO of the board has been challenged and was pending before the high court, Shaikh should not have been transferred. Shaikh, Pathan said, is an upright officer and earlier reports regarding him were favorable. What made the government suddenly change its mind, he asked. On Wednesday, over 500 activists of the Movement for Justice and Peace held a protest rally in Jalna district demanding the cancellation of the transfer order for Shaikh. They alleged that waqf property was sold to Ambani at throwaway prices by some members of the board in collusion with investors and land sharks.
