HC seeks Centre's stand on Waqf Board plea on de-listing of 123 properties, refuses stay

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court Wednesday refused to grant any interim relief to the Delhi Waqf Board in connection with the allotment of a property, purportedly owned by it, to Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and sought the Centre's stand on its petition concerning the government's decision to re-examine the de-listing of its 123 properties.

Justice Yahswant Varma said there was no ground to grant a stay and observed that the property was allotted to ITBP sometime in 2017 and in case the Delhi Waqf Board succeeds in the present proceedings, the allotment can be cancelled.

"I'm presently not inclined to grant a stay. This is not a place for stay. It is not like the property has gone to private people. We can ask Union to hand it back," the judge said.

The property is located in south Delhi's Mathura Road area.

The court issued notice on the petition to the Centre, Delhi Development Authority and ITBP Force and directed them to file their

response.

The Delhi Waqf Board had moved the high court following the constitution of a two-member committee by the Centre to consider the de-listing of Waqf properties even after a report was submitted by a one-member committee on the same issue in 2017.

In the petition, the Delhi Waqf Board has contended that once its properties have been de-listed in 2014 under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, there is no provision under the law for recalling the order of withdrawal from acquisition.

The petition has further said that the two-member committee is the second such panel appointed by the Centre to re-examine the status of the 123 properties after the one-member committee was formed and emphasised that in the meantime, the Centre transferred one of them in favour of ITBP.

The petition claimed that the properties in question are "registered and Gazette notified Waqf properties since more than half a century", have never been under the possession or control of the government and never has their religious use been changed or even paused. The matter would be heard next on April 28.