Minorities Commission writes to CM on Wakf properties

With no response from the Telangana State Wakf Board’s Special Officer for almost a year, the State Minorities Commission (SMC) has yet again written to the Chief Minister on November 28 for ordering a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Wakf properties.

Abid Rasool Khan, chairman of the SMC, wrote a letter to the Telangana government last August, recommending a CBI inquiry into affairs of the Wakf Board. The letter was also sent to offices of the Governor, Prime Minister, Union Home Minister, CBI, National Commission for Minorities and the Union Minister for Minority Affairs. After a month, the Ministry of Home Affairs responded, stating that the CBI can conduct an inquiry into Wakf Board’s affairs only if the State government proposes it and gives its consent under Section 6 of the DSPE Act, 1946. This was intimated to the SMC and the State governments as well. In fact, Mr. Khan’s application was also forwarded to the Chief Secretary, Govt. of Telangana, by the Prime Minister’s Office on August 22, 2014.

The Telangana government then sent a memo asking the Special Secretary, State Wakf Board, to examine and furnish a detailed report on the matter ‘immediately’ last year in September. A second memo was sent in November, asking the matter to be treated as ‘most urgent’. However, so far there has been no response from Special Secretary.