The Siasat Daily: Pune: Friday, December 15, 2017.
Nearly 46.4
acre of Waqf land on Katraj-Kondhwa Road is in dispute with 238 landowners
battling as rightful owners of the land for the past 20 years.
The Central
Waqf Council (CWC) have written a letter to the Principal Secretary of
Minorities Development Department on 2 November to restore the rightful owners-
Waqf Board on the disputed land which is now occupied by other owners.
Now an
inquiry into the matter has been initiated and a report on the matter is
awaited from the Pune regional Waqf officer.
The battle
for the plot dates back to 1996 when the then members of the Alamgir Masjid
Trust appealed the court to declare the land an inam (gift), which was
apparently turned down by the court citing numerous unanswered questions
pertaining to the land.
The trust was
then directed to file a suit in the appropriate court for the land which the
Trustee members omitted.
Salim Mulla,
social Activists claims to have accessed the documents pertaining to the land
records under the RTI Act which show the land had the first Kondhwa mosque
which means the 238 owners have illegally encroached the mosque land and are
now claiming their illegal rights.
He said that
the first mosque was built on the 46.4 acres of land, which is now in dispute,
but when he searched further into the litigation, it was revealed that back in
2006 the land was transferred to Waqf Board by the Charity Commissioner, which
is now claimed by 238 illegal owners.
“Once I
received all the documents under the RTI Act, it showed that the land belonged
to the board from the start as it was a devasthan. However, the earlier trustees
had sold the land to about 238 people and that since it was a nonsaleable land,
this was clearly an illegal process,” he insisted.
The CWC
decided to launch an inquiry into the matter after Mulla had asked for the
response from various authorities regarding the illegal land dispute.
Mulla
proposes the land should be restored to the Waqf Board so that a technical
skills university for Minorities will be built on the land which is illegally
occupied by numerous illegal owners.
But the
battle of the disputed land seems not an easy one since the illegal occupants
are claiming their rights stating their stay is legal since time immemorial and
they have acquired the land by paying the price.
A landowner
for the past two decades, Vedprakash Taneja, (80) a retired army colonel and a
cardiologist claims he has been fighting for the land since he purchased it in
1990.
He says after
selling his property in Haryana, he has here, built a farmhouse and now is
fully determined to fight for his right on the land. He also said that the
Trust has no authority to take away the land and is not an authentic board.
He said, “I
gave up all my land in Haryana and used my savings to procure this land. I had
all the land documents scanned from legal advisors before I invested my money.
We paid the entire amount and it was a great relief to finally have land in the
city where I could build my own farmhouse. I thought the battle was at an end a
few years ago, but now I’m on my guard again. I challenge anyone to prove how
the land belongs to the Waqf Board. I guarantee that I can prove them wrong.”
Now Taneja
has also been directed to submit his documents pertaining to the land after the
CWC launched an inquiry.
Another owner
Mr. Robin Bhatnagar, also in his 80s shares a similar story to acquiring the
land in 90’s.
He said, “In
the numerous hearings that have occurred on this issue since 1996, all the
courts have dismissed appeals from the trustees and the Waqf Board, and asked
them to appeal to the appropriate court. However, 20 years later, they have
still not done this. I am willing to give up my property if it is proved that
it belongs to the board as long as I get my money back for the area that I own,
according to the current market rate.”
When Pune
Mirror contacted Waqf Board CEO Sandesh Tadvi, he replied, “An inquiry has been
initiated and we are awaiting a report from the Pune regional officer, Atiq
Khan, on the matter. We will be able to say more only after we get the report.”