The Bombay High Court has overturned the Maharashtra State Waqf Tribunal’s 2023 decision that had upheld the registration of Pune’s Haji Mohammad Jawad Ispahani Imambara Trust as a Waqf organisation. The court’s decision invalidates the 2016 directive by the Maharashtra Waqf Board to register the Imambara public trust as a Waqf entity under Section 43 of the Waqf Act, 1995. Justice Sandeep V Marne, while delivering the verdict, found that the Waqf Board had misapplied Section 43, which pertains to the automatic recognition of certain Waqfs registered under earlier laws.
The court clarified that merely being recorded under the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, 1950, does not confer Waqf status upon a Muslim trust. Justice Marne granted permission to the complainants to reapply to the Waqf Tribunal for a fresh assessment, ensuring that the dispute is resolved independently, free from the High Court’s influence.
The Imambara, a well-known property in Pune that houses a mosque for a specific Muslim sect, was initially registered as a Muslim Public Trust in 1953. Concerns regarding its alleged mismanagement led to a petition for its classification as a Waqf institution, which the Waqf Board accepted in 2016. The trustees challenged this ruling before the Waqf Tribunal, which dismissed their plea in 2023, prompting them to approach the High Court.
The High Court’s ruling reinforces the principle that Waqf status must be determined through proper legal scrutiny and cannot be arbitrarily conferred.
Meanwhile, the Bombay High Court has put a temporary hold on the Maharashtra Waqf Board’s order approving a new board of trustees for Mumbai’s Minara Masjid on Mohammad Ali Road. The decision came after an interim application was filed by the mosque’s existing trustees, who argued that the Waqf Board’s actions were legally untenable.
A bench comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Dr. Neela Gokhale, on February 18, directed that the Waqf Board must refrain from implementing its decision until the next hearing, scheduled for March 13. The trustees have been granted two weeks to submit their formal response.
The dispute over Minara Masjid’s trusteeship arose when the Waqf Board, citing allegations of illegal property transactions by the mosque’s existing trustees, appointed a new board under Sections 64 and 69 of the Waqf Act. The new trustees announced their intent to take police assistance to assume control of the mosque, one of Mumbai’s most historically significant Islamic institutions.
A key factor in the dispute is the alleged unauthorised transfer of 83 properties linked to Minara Masjid’s trust. While the Waqf Board maintains that the properties were sold in violation of Waqf regulations, the trust has countered that the transactions were lawful agreements with tenants for redevelopment.
