Amanatullah has compromised on 123 Delhi Waqf Board Properties to save his skin: Ali; Waqf chief rejects charges
A storm is brewing in Delhi after Congress leader Ali Mehdi went online to disclose a big expose against Delhi Waqf Board Chairman and Okhla AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan. In the video, the youth leader has alleged that Amanatullah has compromised on 123 Delhi Waqf Board Properties to save his skin, an allegation which has been rejected by the Waqf Boar chief.
It all started after reports surfaced that the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry has decided to take over 123 properties of the Delhi Waqf Board, including mosques, dargahs and graveyards. After which Amanatullh too did FB live with his officers where he is seen trying hard to save his image of a “Muslim messiah”. But many in Okhla not convinced with Ali at the forefront in attack against the Waqf head.
Watch Ali’s video here:
The AAP MLA said he won’t allow it to happen. He said he will challenge the move in the court.
Amanatullah said the L&DO has pasted notices at 123 properties, which has caused “widespread anxiety, fear and resentment” among the Muslim community.
“We have already raised our voice in the court on 123 Waqf properties, our Writ Petition No.1961/2022 is pending in the High Court. Some people are spreading lies about it, the proof of this is in front of all of you. We will not allow anyone to occupy the properties of the Waqf Board,” he said in a tweet in Hindi.
Watch Amanatullah’s video here:
These 123 properties were provided to Delhi Waqf Board by the previous Congress government before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, according to news18.com, a claim which Ali has made in the video.
However, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) approached the court as these properties were in prominent places in the national Capital, said the portal. As per the notice, the 2-member committee submitted its report saying “Delhi Waqf Board was the main stakeholder to whom the opportunity was given by the committee as per the terms of reference. However the board opted not to appear before the court”, a claim made by Ali in the video.
Physical inspection of all the 123 properties will now be carried out by the L&DO.
Amanatullah in a reply to the Deputy Land and Development Officer of the central ministry on Friday said the Delhi Waqf Board already filed a petition in the high court in January 2022 against the formation of a two-member committee on the basis of whose report the action has been initiated by the ministry.
Khan said that the committee was informed on April 12 last year about Waqf Board’s petition in the high court, challenging its formation and asking it to defer its proceedings until a final order was passed by the court. The matter is pending in the high court.
He also said before the two-member committee, a one-member panel was formed whose report was rejected without giving any reason. Also, the Government of India had allotted one of the 123 properties to ITBP on permanent basis, after which the Waqf Board had approached the high court.
These 123 properties are used by the Muslim community. The day-to-day management of these 123 properties was done by Mutawallis or the management committees appointed by the Delhi Waqf Board, he said.
The Delhi Waqf Board has a statutory right under Section 32 of the Waqf Act, 1995, to exercise the powers of general supervision, administration and control over these properties, he asserted.
According to the Waqf Act, all the waqf properties vest in the concerned Waqf Board, which in the present case, is Delhi Waqf Board, Khan said.
The Waqf nature of the 123 properties was “innate” as all were religious structures like mosque, dargahs, graveyards. Some of them were given to the Delhi Waqf Board’s predecessor – ‘Sunni Majlis Auqaf – by the British ruler, he added, reported the media.
