A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court seeking the removal of Ashwani Kumar, Principal Secretary (Home) of the city government, as the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board, accusing him of acting against the interests of waqf properties.
The Bench
A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora has scheduled the matter for hearing on April 30, 2024.
What the plea states?
The plea contends that the administrator of the waqf board also chairs the religious committee, which has recommended the “removal and demolition” of several waqf properties. “The administrator in an organization is appointed for the welfare and betterment of the organization, and such a person has to protect the interest of that organization. However, in the present case, the administrator of Delhi Waqf Board is acting totally against the waqf properties. Instead of protecting them, he is sitting to destroy the waqf properties,” alleges the plea, filed by the Secular Front of Lawyers.
Represented by senior advocate Salman Khurshid and lawyers Imran Ahmad and Rohit Sharma, the petitioner states that over the past year, the religious committee has recommended the removal/demolition of several waqf properties, including Dargah Mamu Bhanja, Sunehri Bagh Masjid, Masjid Madarsa Kangal Shah, and Akhoondji Masjid. The petition highlights that a significant portion of Dargah Mamu Bhanja has been demolished, and Akhoondji Masjid, which was more than 600 years old, has been completely razed due to the “erroneous recommendation” of the religious committee.
The petition mentions that the Delhi Waqf Board was dissolved on August 26, 2023, as its statutory term of five years had expired. Ashwani Kumar was appointed as the administrator of the board on January 10, 2024. “As the chairman/head of the religious committee, he is passing orders for removal/demolition of waqf properties which are outside his jurisdiction. In the capacity of administrator, the respondent no.3 (Kumar) is sitting over the Delhi Waqf Board interfering in policy matters and in the capacity of Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue, he is the head of the Revenue Department from which the board receives Grant in-aid for its expenses,” the plea asserts.
The plea seeks the annulment of the letter appointing Kumar as the administrator of the board on the grounds that it was “perverse, illegal and not sustainable.” It argues that waqf properties are beyond the purview of the religious committee, as its domain is to recommend the removal of only unauthorized and illegal religious structures on public land. Waqf properties, which have existed for centuries, cannot be deemed illegal when they have been notified in the Delhi gazette.
The petition lists the Delhi government, Revenue Minister Atishi, Ashwani Kumar, Delhi Waqf Board, and Delhi Waqf Council as respondents.
