MOINUDDIN QURESHI Vs. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) BY this petition, the petitioner seeks a direction to restrain the respondent No.3 to 11 from working as member of the Wakf Board and further to direct the Chief Executive Officer to manage the affairs, without taking any policy decision till the new Wakf Board is reconstituted by the State Government.

(2.) THE facts, in nutshell, as projected by the petitioner are that the petitioner is a follower of Sunni Muslim sect and he is a person interested in a Wakf. THE State Government, exercising power under Section 13 of the Wakf Act, 1995 (for short 'the Act, 1995') established a Wakf Board for the state of Chhattisgarh i.e. respondent No.1, vide its notification dated 06.12.2001 (Annexure P/1) and nominated the members as per section 14(1)(2) of the Act, 1995. THE notification was published on 11.12.2001 (Annexure P/2) in the Gazette. One Syed Ashfaque Hashmi filed a writ petition before this High Court being W.P. No. 2683/2001, challenging the notification dated 06.12.2001 Learned Single Judge, vide order dated 26.12.2001 (Annexure P/ 3), stayed operation of the said notification. THEreafter, the respondent No.1, exercising power under section 13(1) of the Act, 1995, amended the notification dated 11.12.2001 (Annexure P/2) and reconstituted the Wakf Board by appointing certain members vide notification dated 21.7.2003 (Annexure P/4) and appointed respondent No.11 as the member of the Board on 03.09.2005 (Annexure P/4A),THEreafter, the W.P. No.2683/2001 was heard by the learned Division Bench of this Court and the interim order dated 26.12.2001 was vacated vide order dated 13.07.2005 (Annexure P/5) observing that the constitution of Wakf Board by the impugned notification will be subject to the result in the main writ petition. Later on, vide order dated 10.01.2006, the learned Division Bench Dismissed the said writ petition holding that there was absolutely no ground to conclude that the constitution of Chhattisgarh State Wakf Board suffered from any illegality any illegality.

(3.) THE constitution of a Board, it appears is not dependent on the term of member including Chairman as prescribed under Section 15 of the Act, 1995. Member has been defined in section 3(h) of the Act, 1995 that member means a member of Board and includes the Chairperson. If the Board is a body corporate and having perpetual succession and a common seal, only the member including the chairman are appointed by notification from time to time for a period of five years. On perusal of the subsequent notifications for appointment of Syed Alim Aman and Sheikh Mohammad, it appears that they were appointed as members by notification dated 20.02.2007 (Annexure R/3-1) for five years. THE respondent No.3 Md. Salim Asharfi was appointed as Chairman of the Board by notification dated 11.08.2005, and the respondent No. 11, Mohsina Kidwai was appointed as member of the Board vide notification dated 03.09.2005, (Annexure P/4A), after vacation of interim stay dated 26.12.2001 on 13.07.2005 (Annexure P/5).