HC upholds Wakf Board’s claim to Kapurthala property donated by Maharaja

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has upheld the Punjab Wakf Board’s claim to a property in Budho Pundher village in Kapurthala, including a mosque, graveyard, and “takia” donated by Maharaja Kapurthala and later handed over to the Wakf Board following a notification in 1971.

The matter was placed before the Bench of Justice Sureshwar Thakur and Justice Sudeepti Sharma after a plea was filed by the gram panchayat of Budho Pundher village for quashing the judgment passed by Kapurthala Additional District Judge acting as tribunal constituted under the provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995.

The gram panchayat contested the tribunal’s ruling, arguing that the property in question was required to be governed by the Punjab Act, 1953, which it claimed had precedence over the Wakf Act, 1995. After hearing rival contentions and going through the documents, the Bench did not accept the gram panchayat’s submissions. The court was of the opinion the key issue was not about the precedence of laws such as the Punjab Act, but the classification of the land in question.

Despite the gram panchayat’s argument based on entries in the revenue records designating the land as “shamilat deh” or common land, the Bench asserted that the property was specifically categorised as a Wakf property in the official records. The court asserted that these records, which classified the land as a mosque, graveyard, and takia, must prevail in determining its ownership under the Wakf Act.

The court also cited the constitutional protection provided to the Punjab Act under Article 31-A, but clarified that this did not override the specific provisions of the Wakf Act, which governed the dispute over the ownership of religious properties like the one in question.

The Bench asserted the tribunal’s decision was within its legal authority. It was set up according to a notification dated September 11, 1971, and there was “a bar against the exercise of jurisdiction of the present subject matter by the civil court”. This also applied to the collector under the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961.

Before parting with the judgment, the Bench upheld the tribunal’s jurisdiction and the legitimacy of the Wakf Board’s claim to the property, reinforcing the application of the Wakf Act, 1995, and rejecting the gram panchayat’s attempts to displace the tribunal’s findings.

The Bench held that any entry in the revenue records designating the land as “takia”, graveyard, or masjid carried “conclusivity” and must be “ensured to be protected” at the site itself, even in the face of evidence suggesting prolonged non-use by the Muslim community.