The question of who should control Mumbai’s 1,700-odd Muslim religious trusts has led to a war of words between the Charity Commission and the state Wakf Board with the Board’s Chief Executive Officer telling the former to not interfere in the affairs of Muslim trusts. These trusts own properties worth thousands of crores of rupees. Earlier, like all other religious institutions, Muslim trusts were administered by the state charity commissioner. But after the implementation of the Wakf Act, 1995, administrative jurisdiction of the trusts passed to the State Wakf Board. Also, approvals for change of trustees and permissions to sell or redevelop trust properties are to be given by the Wakf Board. However, wakf officials said the charity commission was still issuing orders permitting Muslim trusts to sell properties. “We came to know of this after two trusts which wanted to redevelop their premises were asked by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) to get no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the Wakf Board,” said Atiq Shaikh, regional officer of the board’s Konkan division.
WAKF BOARD URGES CHARITY COMMISSION TO KEEP OFF AWKAF
The question of who should control Mumbai’s 1,700-odd Muslim religious trusts has led to a war of words between the Charity Commission and the state Wakf Board with the Board’s Chief Executive Officer telling the former to not interfere in the affairs of Muslim trusts.
