The Supreme Court has temporarily halted the Kerala High Court’s ruling that declared the 404.76-acre Munambam property as non-Waqf land, maintaining that the status quo should remain until January 27, according to Live Law.
A Bench comprising Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that it had not imposed a stay on the High Court’s decision to endorse the State Government’s appointment of a one-member Commission of Inquiry tasked with examining the nature and extent of the disputed land.
The Supreme Court’s directives came in response to a Special Leave Petition filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi, which contested the High Court’s judgment. The justices noted that the matter warranted further examination and issued notice returnable in the week beginning January 27. They ordered that, until that date, the declaration from the High Court affirming that the disputed property is not Waqf land shall remain suspended.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the petitioner, argued that the High Court exceeded its authority, as the writ petition solely challenged the State’s decision to form an inquiry commission. He maintained that issues surrounding the validity of the 1950 endowment deed and the property’s status were within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal, which is already handling related proceedings.
Ahmadi claimed the Division Bench made an error by delving into the nature of the deed and categorizing it as a gift rather than a Waqf, despite no party requesting such a determination.
The State opposed the petition. Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta contended that the petitioner organization was merely a third party and that the mutawalli—the custodian of the Waqf—had not raised objections against the formation of the commission. Gupta also noted that the Commission of Inquiry had already submitted its report to the government.
Representing the current residents of the land, Senior Advocate V. Chitambaresh argued that the petition had become irrelevant, asserting that these residents had been unjustly notified that their land, occupied for decades, was Waqf property in 2019.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh informed the Court that a previous civil court decree had determined that the land was not Waqf property.
The Supreme Court questioned the appropriateness of the High Court as a forum for making factual determinations regarding the property’s character while related proceedings were still ongoing before the Tribunal. Justice Misra indicated that the High Court should have deemed the writ petition non-maintainable rather than issuing unsupported conclusions, while Justice Bhuyan remarked that the Division Bench had overstepped the necessary scope, rendering the original petition ineffective.
The Court indicated that further consideration was needed and accepted notice from counsel representing both the Kerala Waqf Board and the State government.
The Munambam land dispute involves a substantial tract in Ernakulam district that was transferred in 1950 by Mohammed Sidhique Sait to the Farook College Managing Committee. Over the years, portions of this land were sold to various individuals who established their residences there. In 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board claimed the land, interpreting the 1950 deed as a Waqf rather than a gift. This declaration triggered significant public protests and became a contentious issue during discussions on the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025. In response, the State government appointed a Commission of Inquiry led by former High Court judge Justice C. N. Ramachandran Nair.
A Single Judge initially annulled the Commission, asserting that the Waqf Tribunal held exclusive jurisdiction over the issue; however, the Division Bench later reinstated the Commission and additionally ruled that the land was not Waqf.
The petitioner posits that the High Court improperly ventured into factual matters requiring trial, specifically concerning the waqif’s intent and the endowment deed’s nature, which fall exclusively under the Tribunal’s jurisdiction. The petitioner also emphasized that the property’s status had been previously clarified in a 1967 civil suit, affirmed by the High Court in 1973, which recognized the deed as a Waqf—a conclusion never contested by Farook College.
Furthermore, the Special Leave Petition argues that validating the Commission of Inquiry establishes a parallel adjudicatory body, undermining the Tribunal’s exclusive authority and violating the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952, which prohibits inquiries into matters already under judicial consideration.
Earlier, assurances from the BJP garnered support from certain Christian communities regarding the Waqf Amendment Act, but Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju indicated that the Act will not fully resolve the long-standing Munambam land dispute, encouraging residents to persist in their legal battle in the Supreme Court.
Tags: Supreme Court stays Kerala HC order declaring Munambam land “not waqf” Extract 5 SEO-friendly keywords as tags. Output only keywords, comma separated.
Hashtags: #Supreme #Court #stays #Kerala #order #declaring #Munambam #land #waqf
