Muslim groups under the banner of Maharashtra Wakf Board Bachao Committee have alleged that the charity commissioner has allowed illegal sale of around 130 properties belonging to religious trusts in and around Mumbai.
The groups have threatened protests against the commissioner on June 8.
The group said that on November 13, 2003, the state government passed a resolution declaring that properties registered under category B (Muslim religious trusts) with the charity commissioner should be transferred to the state Wakf Board.
Though the GR was published in the state gazette, the properties were not transferred and are being allowed to be sold by the commissioner, the groups alleged.
Murtuza M Bachchan Shaikh, president of the group, said, “Wakf trusts own around 50,000 acres of land in the state worth several hundred crore rupees. This property should have been used for the benefit of poorer members of the Muslim community. Instead, permissions are being given to sell them for commercial use which is not permitted under Wakf rules.”
In Mumbai, property sales that are being questioned include that of land belonging to an orphanage in Mumbai Central now occupied by a mall, a dargah in Dadar whose lease deed to develop the property is being challenged by devotees (reported by DNA on March 18) and land owned by another orphanage trust in Altamount Road that was sold to a premier industrial family. The agitators said that ‘category B’ properties by their nature cannot be sold or transferred for use other than for religious and charitable purposes. They claimed to have filed a PIL on the issue in 2007, which is pending before the Bombay high court.
