Munambam Waqf Land Dispute: Kerala High Court says it will temporarily protect land owners

Amid rising tensions over the Munambam land dispute between Waqf Board and those claiming to be land owners, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday remarked that it will pass an interim order staying the dispossession notices issued to the latter [Joseph Benny & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.]..A division bench of Justices Amit Rawal and KV Jayakumar noted that since the matter is essentially a land dispute, the land owners should move a civil suit. "You have to get a declaration that you are the owners. High Court cannot decide a disputed question of fact. We can give interim stay and it will continue till you obtain a fresh interim stay... We will not permit you to challenge it (the Waqf Act) like this. You will challenge as per your convenience? We will grant you stay of dispossession till you file a suit and then you can seek a fresh injunction. We will protect you," Justice Rawal orally remarked..However, the Bench did not dictate any order during the hearing today..The Bench made the observations while considering a petition moved by land owners seeking to strike down various provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995..Over the last month, around 600 parties claiming to have purchased land from the committee of Farook College, Kozhikode before the enactment of the Waqf Act, have been agitating after they received notices from the Waqf Board stating that the ownership of the land vests with the Board.Since then, the Board has taken steps to evict them and on its request, the Revenue Department has allegedly declined to issue Record of Rights (RoR) or allow mutation of documents.Munambam has been witness to several protests and political parties have been divided, both between and amongst themselves, on their stance on the matter..Now, eight parties claiming to be purchasers of various portions of the Farook College land in Munambam, have approached the High Court challenging the constitutional validity of various provisions of the Act..Their primary contention is that these provisions are unconstitutional and discriminative as they grant special status to Waqf properties while denying the same status to Trusts, Mutts, Akharar and Societies."In the [Waqf] Act there is no safeguarded for non-Islamic communities to save their religious and private properties from being included in the list of Waqf issued by the Government or by the Waqf Boards and other religious communities are being discriminated and the impugned provisions violate articles 14, 15, 25, 27, and 300-A of the Constitution of India," the plea reads.The petitioners have also contended that there are no provisions in the Act to guarantee the affected parties an opportunity of hearing, thereby violating the principles of natural justice."The Waqf Boards in an arbitrary manner without due process of law taking advantage of undue powers under the Act capture lands of other communities even the Government and land over which no Muslim may have any right or claim," the plea states..According to the petitioners, the establishment of Waqf Tribunals as per Section 83 of the Waqf Act is also highly discriminatory and improper as it has been created for purposes outside the scope of Article 323-A(1) of the Constitution.The petitioners have also contended that it is discriminatory to single out Waqf properties from the operation of the Limitation Act which lays down the law on adverse possession and recovery of possession.As per the plea,"There is no valid reason to grant exemption from Limitation Act only for recovery of Waqf properties, is equal for all religious properties," .On these, among other grounds, the petitioners have sought orders from the Court to strike down Secctions 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9(1)(2)(a) , 28, 29, 36, 40, 52, 54, 55, 83, 85, 89, 90, 101 and 107 of Waqf Act,1995.Advocates KS Bharathan, Aadithyan S Mannali and Aleena Sony appeared for the petitioners.