Govt wants to make amends for Wakf properties

‘The Act gives right to the state govt to evict the property sans entering into any legal battle’

In a major decision, the state cabinet on Thursday decided to amend the Mumbai Government Premises (Eviction) Act 1955 to facilitate the eviction on encroached Wakf properties. The proposed amendment will be tabled in the winter session of the state legislature in December.

Stating that the provision in the Wakf Act 1995 was not adequate to do away with the encroachment, the cabinet sanctioned the amendment proposal. Wakf Minister Anees Ahmed said that nearly 9000 acre of the Wakf  land is in the urban area and almost 99 per cent of it has been encroached.

“The act gives right to the state government, unlike the provisions in the Wakf Act, to evict the property without entering into any legal battle,” he added.

The government is also thinking of bringing the old temples and ashrams under the purview of the Act, as many of them are under the encroachment threat.

“The act permits collectors and the police to take direct action for the eviction of the encroachment. As far as the value of the encroached Wakf property is concerned, it turns into thousands of crores of rupees. Nearly 1,100 properties, of 5,000 in total, belonging to the Wakf are under disputes and encroachment,” Ahmed said.

He added that after touring Karnataka, Rajasthan and other states to study the effect of the Eviction Act’s implementation, he was fully convinced for the Act.

However, Section 2 (b) of the Mumbai Government Premises (Eviction) Act 1955 does not mention about the Wakf property. “Section 54 and 55 of the Wakf Board 1995, empowers CEO with the power of serving notice to the encroachers followed by application filed with deputy regional magistrate for the eviction. This process takes longer to yield results. The amendment in the Mumbai Government Premises (Eviction) Act 1955 will empower the board with direct rights for eviction,” an official from revenue department said.

The second decision taken about the Wakf Board was the empowerment of the CEO of the Board. “The right of the eviction, as the competent authority, has been given to the CEO,” Ahmed said.