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Madhya Pradesh High Court

Ataurrehman vs M.P. Wakf Board Bhopal on 26 April, 2022

Author: Anil Verma

Bench: Anil Verma

                               -1-
                                            Civil Revision No.130 of 2022




        IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH
                           AT INDORE
                            BEFORE
            HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE ANIL VERMA

                    ON THE 26th OF APRIL, 2022
                CIVIL REVISION No. 130 of 2022
  Between:-
  ATAURREHMAN S/O HABIBURREHMAN,
  AGED ABOUT 60 YEARS,
  OCCUPATION: BUSINESS,
  R/O MAULANA AZAD ROAD,
  JANSAPURA LANE NO. 4,
  UJJAIN (MADHYA PRADESH)
                                                  .....APPLICANT
  (BY MR. YASHPAL RATHORE, ADVOCATE)

  AND

1. M.P. WAKF BOARD BHOPAL,
  THROUGH CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
  M.P. WAKF BOARD BHOPAL,
  NEAR TAJUL MASJID, BHOPAL (MADHYA PRADESH)

2. STATE OF M.P.,
  THROUGH COLLECTOR,
  UJJAIN (MADHYA PRADESH)

3. STATE OF M.P.,
  THROUGH TEHSILDAR,
  TEHSIL UJJAIN (MADHYA PRADESH)

4. NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA
  (ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAY MANTRALAYA)
  THROUGH PROJECT DIRECTOR,
                                 -2-
                                                 Civil Revision No.130 of 2022




  D-21/9, MAHANANDA NAGAR, UJJAIN
  NATIONAL HIGHWAYS AUTHORITY OF INDIA PROJECT
  EXECUTION UNIT UJJAIN (MADHYA PRADESH)
                                         .....RESPONDENTS
  (R.NO.1 BY MR. MURTUZA BOHRA, ADVOCATE)
  (R.NO.2 & 3 BY MR. RANJEET SEN, GA)
  (R.NO.4 BY MS. ANITA SHARMA, ADVOCATE)

      This Civil Revision coming on this day, the court passed the
following:
                           O R D E R

Parties are heard finally at motion hearing stage. Applicant has filed present civil revision under Section 83(9) of the Wakf Act, 1995 being aggrieved by the impugned order dated 03/02/2022, whereby the suit of the applicant / plaintiff has been dismissed being time barred.

Counsel for the applicant contended that the Tribunal has erred in allowing the application under Section 32 of the Wakf Act and also erred in dismissing the suit without recording the evidence primarily on the ground of limitation. Section 6(1) of the Wakf Act is not applicable to the applicant because he is stranger to Wakf and is a non-muslim. No notice has been issued to any person interested in the suit property before issuing the gazette notification. The impugned order is bad in law and is also against the facts and circumstances of the case. Hence, he prays that the impugned order be set aside and the matter be remanded back to the Tribunal for its reconsideration.

Per contra, counsel for the other side have opposed the revision and prays for its rejection. Counsel for the respondent No.1 contended that as per the Sub Section (1) of Section 6 of the Wakf Act limitation is one year, which starts from the date of publication of Wakf notification dated 13/09/1985, therefore, this suit is time barred and this civil revision is not maintainable.

Parties are heard at length and perused the documents filed along with the revision.

Hon'ble the apex Court in the case of Punjab Wakf Board Vs. Gram Panchayat @ Gram Sabha reported in (2000) 2 SCC 121 in paragraphs No.24 to 26 has held as under:-

"24. Learned counsel for the appellant also referred to the Explanation added below to sub-section (1) of Section 6 of the Wakf Act; 1954, by the Central Act, 69 of 1984. The Explanation reads as follows :-

"Explanation : - For the purpose of this section and Section 6-A, the expression "any person interested therein", occurring in sub-section (1) of this Section and in sub- section (I) of Section 6-A, shall, in relation to any property specified as Wakf property in a list of Wakfs published, under sub-section (2) of Section 5, after the commencement of the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 1984, shall include also every person who, though not interested in the Wakf concerned, is interested in such property and to whom a reasonable opportunity had been afforded to represent his case by notice served on him in that behalf during the course of the relevant inquiry under Section 4".

25. Obviously, the intention of Parliament was to say that if a suit was not filed within one year, the Notification would be binding not only on those interested in the trust -4- Civil Revision No.130 of 2022 but even strangers, claiming interest in the property in question, provided they were given notice in the inquiry under Section 4 preceding the Notification under Section 5(2).

26. In this connection, we have to point out that the Government of India has not issued any date for commencement of the Explanation in Section 6 of the Wakf Act quoted above. Even if it is assumed that the Explanation can be invoked, there is no material before us to show that any notice was issued to the Gram Panchayat before the issuance of the Notification, as required by the Explanation. If no notice was issued as required by the Notification, the Notification would not come in the way of a Civil Court to decide the question if raised between the Wakf and a third party, even if such a suit was filed beyond one year from the date of the Notification, Thus, once the Assistant Collector and the Collector had jurisdiction to decide, their decision became final and Section 13 of the Panchayat Act barred the Civil Suit filed by the Wakf Board."

In the present matter, applicant is a third party and a stranger to the Wakf, therefore, rule of limitation laid down in Section 6(1) of the Wakf Act, 1954 is not applicable to the present applicant and limitation for third party is prescribed is beyond one year from the date of the notification.

It appears that Tribunal has erred in passing the impugned order and the impugned order passed by the Tribunal is arbitrary and perverse to the law and facts. Therefore, this civil revision is allowed and the impugned order dated 03/02/2022 passed by the M.P. Wakf Tribunal, Bhopal in Case No.A-33/2021 is set aside and the matter is remanded back to the Tribunal with a direction that the -5- Civil Revision No.130 of 2022 Tribunal shall restore the suit to its original number and decide the same afresh on merits after recording the evidence and affording sufficient opportunity of hearing to both the parties. Parties are directed to appear before the M. P. Wakf Tribunal, Bhopal on 11/05/2022 for further proceedings.

Copy of this order be sent to the concerned Tribunal. With the aforesaid, civil revision stands disposed of. Certified copy as per rules.

(ANIL VERMA) JUDGE Tej Digitally signed by TEJPRAKASH VYAS Date: 2022.04.27 10:26:26 +05'30'