The Kerala High Court has directed the Kerala State Waqf Board not to exercise any major functions, incur capital expenditure or make policy decisions without express permission from the court. The judicial functions of the board must also be stopped. The decision comes as the court found that the board has not been constituted according to the mandate of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Act, 2025.The Act requires the inclusion of two non-Muslim members and a Shia member on the board. Petitioners contended that at present there are nine members, without the representation of non-Muslim communities and the Shia community. Additionally, one of the petitions challenged the appointment of Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader K.S. Hamsa as the chairperson of the board. The Division Bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and V.M. Syam Kumar added that the mandate of the UMEED Act must be followed unless there was an order to the contrary from another court of law. The State government informed the court that it was prepared to reconstitute the board in compliance with the UMEED Act after considering the various allegations regarding the board’s composition raised in a batch of public interest litigation before the court. BJP leader Shone George had challenged the lack of non-muslim members on the board. The Assembly of Christian Trust Services (ACTS) challenged the board’s constitution and the uploading of 404 acres of coastal land at Munambam on the UMEED portal.The ACTS had also contended that there was no representation of Shia, Bohra and Aghakhani communities as mandated by law. President of Aal-E-Rasool Foundation Sajid Hussain Khatai sought representation of the Ithna Ashaari, a Shia community, on the board.In another PIL moved by V.M. Stalin, a retired Junior Warrant Officer with the Indian Air Force, challenged the inclusion of CPI(M) politician and former MLA K.P. Kunhammed Kutty, alleging that only two months were left in his tenure and the appointment went against the law.The connected petitions will be considered again in a week. Published - July 15, 2026 08:59 pm IST