Munambam Waqf land dispute: Kerala High Court stays single-judge order quashing State's inquiry commission

The Kerala High Court on Monday stayed a single-judge's order quashing the State government's formation of an inquiry commission to examine the rights of around 600 families facing eviction after a property at Munambam was declared to be a waqf [State of Kerala v. Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi]..A Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu passed the order on an appeal filed by the State government against the single-judge verdict which was delivered on March 17. "The appeals are admitted. List the appeals for hearing on daily board from June 16, 2025. During the pendency of these Appeals, the operation and implementation of the [single-judge's order], quashing notification [appointing the Commission] dated 27 November 2024, is stayed. The report to be submitted by the Commission constituted under the notification, in accordance with its terms of reference, will not be acted upon by the State Government without seeking leave of this Court in these appeals" the Court said in its order.The Court said that the State was well within its power to issue the notification appointing the Commission headed by retired High Court judge, Justice CN Ramachandran Nair. It also noted that the Commission seemed to be proceeding in accordance with its statutory mandate. Therefore, the Court found that the State government has made out strong prima facie case against the single-judge's order."The enquiry conducted by the Commission, by itself, will neither determine the legal rights of the concerned parties nor encroach upon the jurisdiction of the adjudicatory mechanism under the Waqf Act. The mere initiation of an inquiry by the Commission pursuant to a Notification dated 27 November 2024 under Section 3 of Act 60 of 1952 cannot, by itself, be construed as interfering with the jurisdiction of the court or tribunal...Thus, a strong prima facie case is made out by the Appellant–State when it makes a grievance that its exercise of a statutory power could not have been set aside in such a manner and the Commission constituted under the statutory framework could not have been restrained from discharging its function assigned to it by law," the Court's order stated. .The dispute concerns land in Munambam, which originally measured 404.76 acres but has been reduced to around 135.11 acres due to sea erosion.In 1950, the land was gifted to the Farook College by one Siddique Sait. However, the land was already home to several people, who continued occupying the land, leading to legal battles between the college and the long-time occupants.Later, the college sold portions of the land to these occupants. These land sales failed to mention that the property was waqf land.In 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board formally registered the land as waqf property, making the earlier sales void. This triggered opposition from residents who faced eviction.An appeal challenging the State Waqf Board's decision to classify the Munambam land as a waqf was filed before a waqf tribunal in Kozhikode.Meanwhile, in response to growing protests from around 600 families, the Kerala government appointed an inquiry commission in November 2024, led by retired Justice CN Ramachandran Nair to recommend solutions.This came to be challenged before the High Court by members of the Waqf Samrakshana Samithi, who argued the government had no power to inquire into Waqf properties outside the statute..On March 17, single-judge Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas quashed the order appointing the Commission ruling that it lacked legal authority to intervene in matters already adjudicated or pending under the Waqf Act, 1995.Challenging this order, the State filed the present appeal arguing that the petitioners lacked locus standi and that the order was passed without proper appreciation of law and facts..The petitioners were represented by advocates TU Ziyad, P Chandrasekhar and Anoop Krishna.Advocate General K Gopalakrishna Kurup appeared for the State.Standing counsel Jamshed Hafiz appeared for Kerala State Waqf Board.Senior counsel George Poonthottam instructed by advocate Nisha George appeared for one of the residents impleaded in the petition..[Read Order]