The Telangana State Waqf Board (TSWB) and the Telangana government are gearing up to replace the current Chief Executive Officer Shahnawaz Qasim, a day after telling the High Court that the same would be done by Monday.
According to a board member, though no meeting has been called to discuss the issue, the TSWB is taking note of the repercussions of replacing Mr. Qasim.
Explaining the issue, a board member told The Hindu , “We will analyse the legal validity of the decisions taken by the CEO. Whether they can be set aside or not by the court. This is so because the WP 35572/2018 which was heard dealt with setting aside his appointment as CEO. It is not possible to comment on whether the CEO’s decisions can be set aside unless there is full understanding of the matter”.
According to sources, the board is in a state of flux as no names for the post of CEO have yet been given to the Telangana government for consideration.
According to the Waqf Act, the board should suggest names of two persons not below the rank of Deputy Secretary to the government. To further complicate matters, the terms of various serving members have ended, or would soon end. The membership is co-terminus with the term in the Telangana State Legislative Assembly or Telangana State Legislative Council. While Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator Moazzam Khan’s term as a member ended as the Assembly was dissolved in September 2018, TSWB Chairman Mohammed Saleem’s term as member of the Legislative Council is set to end by the end of next month. The board members said it is likely that the TSWB would once again witness elections.
A board member also said there was a likelihood that a note from the TSWB would be sent to Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi to apprise him of these ‘technical issues’.
When contacted, Advisor to the Telangana Government on Minorities Welfare, A.K. Khan, said, “There are some incidents which will require corrective action. We are calling for a meeting on Thursday to discuss these issues.”
He said despite the board not having an officer of the rank of Assistant Secretary or above, the TSWB was functioning well. Touching upon the possibility of elections within the board, he said, “Let us cross that bridge when the time comes.”
