Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi has moved a Special Leave Petition before the Supreme Court challenging the order of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, which struck down the registration of the contentious Munambam holding as a Waqf property.
The Vedhi, an organisation for “restoration of alienated Waqf holdings,” contended that the order of the Division Bench violated the doctrine of statutory finality by rendering its findings on the validity of the Waqf declaration, a matter that was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal.
Incidentally, a two-member Bench of Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and V. M. Shyamkumar had recently passed the judgment in a writ petition moved by the State government challenging a Single Judge’s order, which cancelled the appointment of an inquiry commission into the Munambam issue.
The Vedhi has contended before the apex court that the Division Bench transgressed its jurisdiction and passed a declaration on the property, which is a registered Waqf, in a writ petition after bypassing the statutory procedures, especially when the issue was pending before the Waqf Tribunal. Moreover, the issue whether the Munambam property was a Waqf or not was not even the subject matter of the proceedings, the Vedi has argued.
