KABEERIYYA MASJID COMMITTEE Vs. LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners before me are Kabeeriyya Masjid Committee, an unregistered body and two individuals representing themselves as the Secretary and the President of the said Committee. In this proceeding, the petitioners question the legality of the decision of the Wakf Board, Andaman & Nicobar Islands holding that the Masjid known as Kabeeriyya Masjid, which is Wakf, belongs to the management of Akbariya Masjid. Such decision was taken by the Board on 19th March, 2011 in response to a communication of the Superintendent of Police, South Andaman district in connection with a subsisting dispute over management of the affairs of the said Masjid. This communication of the Superintendent of Police(SP) dated 8th March, 2011 was produced before me by the learned counsel for the Wakf Board. From this communication, I find that the SP has referred to a dispute between two groups, terming them as "EK " and "AP " for control of the functioning of the mosque. The Board was requested to look into the matter on priority basis and initiate necessary action to maintain peace in the community. The Board took the decision after issuing notices to the Secretary, Akbariya Masjid and the Secretary, Markaz Saka Fathiya (Sunniya), Wimberlygunj, as representatives of the "EK " and the "AP " groups respectively.

(2.) THE case of the petitioners is that one Shri C. Mohammed had dedicated the property on which the Masjid has been built to the Kabeeriyya Masjid Committee, i.e. the petitioner no.1 for construction of a mosque building for performing prayer and other worship and it is the said committee who are in management and control of the affairs of the said mosque before being dispossessed in consequence of the order of the Tribunal.

(3.) MR . Mandal, learned Government Pleader appearing for the Administration and the Board has raised the point of maintainability of this writ petition on the ground that the Wakf Tribunal has the exclusive jurisdiction to decide a dispute of this nature. Two judgments have been relied on in this regard being a judgment of the Supreme Court in the case of Board of Wakf, West Bengal v. Anis Fatma Begum and Anr. delivered in Civil Appeal No.5297 of 2004 on 23rd November, 2010 as well as an unreported judgment of a Division Bench of this Court in W.P. No.14013(W) of 2010(PIL) (V.V. Khalid v. Union of India & Ors.) delivered on 20th June, 2011. Relying on these two authorities, Mr. Mandal has prayed for dismissal of this writ petition.