Waqf case: petitioner moves caveat in SC

With the Supreme Court set to hear a plea challenging the Kerala High Court’s order restraining the State Waqf Board from taking any major decision without its prior permission, BJP State vice-president Shone George, one of the petitioners in the HC, has filed a caveat before the apex court in connection with the case.

Through the caveat, Mr. George has sought a direction that no interim order be passed on any petition filed by the Waqf Board or its members without hearing his submissions.

Addressing the media later, Mr. George accused former Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) of misleading the public on the Waqf issue by suppressing facts and spreading misinformation.

He described as `patently false’, Mr. Vijayan’s claim that his government had not appointed non-Muslim members to the Waqf Board. According to Mr. George, a Gazette notification issued during the LDF government’s tenure had explicitly provided for the appointment of non-Muslim members after completion of the prescribed legal procedures.

He further contended that the State government, in an affidavit filed before the court, had expressed its willingness to implement the provisions of Section 14 of the Waqf Act, which prescribes the procedure for appointing members to the Board. The IUML’s contention that the government had merely agreed to examine the legal feasibility of such appointments was therefore contrary to the record, he alleged.

Arguing that the Waqf Board exercises jurisdiction over disputes involving properties and claims affecting members of other faiths, he said the law specifically provides for the inclusion of non-Muslim members on the Board.

Accusing the IUML and the CPI(M) of communalising the issue for political reasons, Mr. George said the “double standards” of the LDF and the UDF would eventually be exposed.