Wakf Board put on notice

State to resume land allotted for Pahadisharif Dargah. The notice issued on June 28 says field inspection revealed the land was not utilised and was vacant on ground. The 50-acre land in survey No 99/1 was allotted by Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy in 2009 to the Dargah following a forceful representation made by the Majlis party in the Assembly. Subsequently, the Revenue Department issued GO 141 allotting the land and the actual possession was given on February 19, 2009.

The government appears to have done a volte face in respect of the 50 acre land allotted by it to Hazrath Baba Sharfuddin Dargah at Pahadisharif. The Wakf Board has been served a notice by the Tahsildar of Saroornagar mandal to show cause why the land given in Mamidipally village should not be resumed since the Board had not utilised it.

The notice issued on June 28 says field inspection revealed the land was not utilised and was vacant on ground. “Therefore, you are requested to show cause within seven days why necessary action should not be taken for resumption of the said land in the interest of the State or for some public purpose,” the notice stated.

The 50-acre land in survey No 99/1 was allotted by former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy in 2009 to the Dargah following a forceful representation made by the Majlis party in the Assembly. Subsequently, the Revenue Department issued GO 141 allotting the land and the actual possession was given on February 19, 2009.

Last year, the Kiran Kumar government allotted another 35 acres to the Dargah in Koheda village of Hayathnagar Mandal – thus making up the ‘missing’ 85 acres of Dargah land. A surprised Wakf Board chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biabani said a “proper reply” will be given shortly.

Originally the Dargah had 2,131 acres of land but the government claimed to have acquired more than 2,000 acres from the Seventh Nizam in 1956 by paying compensation. “But no such record exists in the Wakf Board,” pointed out its member and MLC, Syed Altaf Hyder Razvi.

Charging the government of giving away Dargah land to APICC, Rajiv International Airport and other ventures, he said it agreed to return 85 acres as records showed it belonged to the Dargah.

“The land is not given to SEZ or any industrial purpose so that it can be taken back for non-utilisation. It is Wakf land and it is the Board’s discretion when to utilise it,” Mr. Razvi said.