A Joint Survey Commissioner will be appointed soon by the State government to help settle the disputes over the pending survey of various Wakf properties in Kerala, Minister for Higher Education, Wakf, and Haj K.T. Jaleel has said.
He was speaking after opening the functioning of the three-member State-level Wakf tribunal, headquartered in Kozhikode, on Saturday.
Dr. Jaleel said the tribunal would consider only Wakf-related disputes.
“Earlier, the three regional tribunals used to consider various other cases too, which delayed decisions on Wakf-related cases,” he said.
He said the formation of the three-member Wakf tribunal was a much-awaited proposal which would help settle all Wakf-related adjudications by a single panel.
“As of now, around 700 cases are pending with the previously constituted regional tribunals in the State, which will be passed on to the new tribunal for quick settlement,” he added.
29 new posts
The Minister said all the Wakf-related cases in courts would be referred to the new Wakf tribunal. The government had created 29 new posts to shore up the tribunal. Referring to the strengthening of religious beliefs in Kerala, the Minister said there was no decline in the crime rate and called for an introspection.
Kerala High Court judge C.K. Abdul Rahim chaired the inaugural event. Mayor Thottathil Raveendran, chairman, Wakf Tribunal, K. Soman, Principal District and Sessions Judge M.R. Anitha, and Minority Welfare Secretary A. Shajahan were present.
