Gujarat High Court
Dilavarmiya Dadumiya Sumra vs Gujarat State Waqf Board on 17 March, 2026
NEUTRAL CITATION
C/SCA/15015/2025 JUDGMENT DATED: 17/03/2026
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IN THE HIGH COURT OF GUJARAT AT AHMEDABAD
R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 15015 of 2025
FOR APPROVAL AND SIGNATURE:
HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT M. PRACHCHHAK
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Approved for Reporting Yes No
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DILAVARMIYA DADUMIYA SUMRA & ORS.
Versus
GUJARAT STATE WAQF BOARD
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Appearance:
RIZWAN SHAIKH(7146) for the Petitioner(s) No. 1,2,3,4,5
MR MANISH S SHAH(5859) for the Respondent(s) No. 1
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CORAM:HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE HEMANT M.
PRACHCHHAK
Date : 17/03/2026
JUDGMENT
1. Rule returnable forthwith. Learned counsel Mr. Manish Shah waives service of notice of Rule for and on behalf of the respondent- Gujarat State Waqf Board.
2. By way of present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs :
"(A) THIS HON'BLE COURT MAY BE PLEASED TO direct the Respondent-Waqf State Waqf Board to appreciate, consider and decide the application dated 25/01/2022 (Annexure-B) and application dated 08/10/2024 (Annexure-D) in time bound schedule and in accordance with law.
(B) Pending admission, hearing and till final disposal of present petition THIS HON'BLE COURT MAY BE PLEASED TO direct the Respondent-Waqf State Waqf Board to appreciate, consider and decide the application dated 25/01/2022 (Annexure-B) and application dated 08/10/2024 (Annexure-D) in time bound schedule and in accordance with law.
(C) THIS HON'BLE COURT MAY BE PLEASED TO award the costs of present Page 1 of 4 Uploaded by DOLLY CHETAN VADUKAR(HC01392) on Tue Mar 17 2026 Downloaded on : Wed Mar 18 21:55:51 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/15015/2025 JUDGMENT DATED: 17/03/2026 undefined petition.
(D) THIS HON'BLE COURT MAY BE PLEASED TO grant such other and further relief/s as may be deemed fit, just and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case, in the interest of justice."
3. Brief facts giving rise to the present petition are that, the ancient and famous dargah named "Hazrat Mehmood Shah Bukhari Dada" is situated at Dhandhuka, District Ahmedabad, wherein in the Islamic month of Rajab, sandal and ursh are celebrated and thousands of devotees come from all over the country. That, in view of the provisions of Waqf Act, 1995, on 11.02.2014, the said Dargah came to be registered as "Hazrat Sahid Pir Mehmoodshah Bukhari Dada Waqf vide Waqf registration number 0157-Ahmedabad and thereby, the petitioner No. 1 and four others appointed as the Trustees/Mutawallis. However, the scheme was framed without consulting and informing all the beneficiaries, whereby, as per the scheme, arrangement of sharing of income of Waqf was made completely bias which benefits only some of the persons/Mutawallis/Mujavar and their families and, there were many irregularities and deficiencies in the scheme of the Waqt Dargah, which resulted into mismanagement and maladministration of the Waqf, its funds and properties. Therefore, four Trustees/Mutawallis of the Waqf/Dargah illegally managing the Waqf/Dargah and thereby, the properties of Trust/Waqf and funds were frittered away, and the four Trustees/Mutawallis are also not permitting the petitioner No. 1 in participating the management of Waqf/Dargah. That, in view of the aforesaid circumstances, on 25.01.2022, the petitioners filed an application under 69 of the Waqf Act before the Respondent-Waqf Board for framing scheme of better administration of the Waqf/Dargah, wherein, the petitioners sought modification of scheme and the appointment of Trustees/Mutawallis, however, the respondent No. 1-Waqf Board did not take any action Page 2 of 4 Uploaded by DOLLY CHETAN VADUKAR(HC01392) on Tue Mar 17 2026 Downloaded on : Wed Mar 18 21:55:51 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/15015/2025 JUDGMENT DATED: 17/03/2026 undefined with respect to the said application and therefore, the petitioners visited Office of the Waqf Board and requested to the Waqf Board to decide and consider the application dated 25.01.2022 filed by the petitioners. That, since the other Trustees/Mutawallis were passing resolution without informing and involving the petitioner No. 1, the petitioner No. 1 filed another application dated 08.08.2023 before the respondent-Waqf Board requesting to provide opportunity of hearing before passing any order in pursuance to any change report or application filed by the other Trustees/Mutawallis. That, in view of gross mismanagement and maladministration of the Trust/Waqf, the petitioner No. 5 filed an application dated 08.10.2024 under Section 70 of the Waqf Act for mismanagement. That, since the respondent No.1 did not take any action with respect to the applications of the petitioners, the petitioners filed applications dated 01.02.2025 requesting to take action with respect to the applications filed under Section 69 and 70 of the Waqf Act.
4. Since the respondent has not taken any action till date and thereby, permitting and facilitating mismanagement and maladministration of the Trust/Waqf, its funds and properties, the petitioners have preferred the present petition.
5. Heard Mr. Rizwan Shaikh, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners and Mr. Manish Shah, learned counsel appearing for the respondent-Board.
6. Learned counsel Mr. Shaikh has submitted that the inaction on the part of the respondent is completely illegal, unconstitutional, improper, unjust and unreasonable and also in gross violation of the statutory provisions of the Waqf Act. He has submitted that the Page 3 of 4 Uploaded by DOLLY CHETAN VADUKAR(HC01392) on Tue Mar 17 2026 Downloaded on : Wed Mar 18 21:55:51 IST 2026 NEUTRAL CITATION C/SCA/15015/2025 JUDGMENT DATED: 17/03/2026 undefined respondent Board is required to consider, appreciate and take decision on the applications made by the petitioners and communicate the decision to them, however, neither the applications have been considered, nor any decisions thereon is taken and communicated to the petitioner till date and therefore, under such circumstances, necessary orders and directions are required to be issued against the respondent to consider, appreciate and pass necessary order on the applications made by the petitioners before the respondent Board.
7. On the other hand, learned counsel Mr. Manish Shah, appearing on behalf of the respondent Board, has assured this Court that within a period of 6 months the applications made by the petitioners shall be decided by the respondent Board and the issue involved in the present petition shall be resolved and the same shall be intimated to the petitioners in accordance with law.
8. I have heard the learned counsel appearing for the respective parties. In view of above assurance given by the learned counsel Mr. Shah, the respondent Board is hereby directed to decide the applications made by the present petitioners within a period of 6 months from the date of receipt of writ of this Order in accordance with law, after giving proper opportunity to all the concerned parties.
7. With the above observation and direction, present petition stands disposed of. Rule is discharged.
Direct service is permitted.
(HEMANT M. PRACHCHHAK,J) Dolly Page 4 of 4 Uploaded by DOLLY CHETAN VADUKAR(HC01392) on Tue Mar 17 2026 Downloaded on : Wed Mar 18 21:55:51 IST 2026