HC reinstates Shia Waqf Board members

LUCKNOW: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Friday quashed the Uttar Pradesh government order removing six members of the Shia Waqf Board and reinstated them to their respective positions.

A vacation bench of justice Ranjan Roy and justice SN Agnihotri passed the order on the grounds that the members were not provided an opportunity to put forward their views, a clause mandatory in the Waqf Act, 1995.

However, the court allowed the state government to proceed afresh in accordance with law against these members.

The members — Akhtar Hasan Rizvi, Syed Wali Haider, Ashfa Zaidi, Maulana Azim Husain Zaidi, Aalima Zaidi and Najmul Hasan Rizvi — were removed by the Yogi government earlier this month on charges of gross anomalies in connection with Waqf properties. These members, who were appointed by the Samajwadi Party government, had filed a writ petition before the court against their removal.

Admitting the writ on June 22, the court had directed the UP government to furnish all details related to removal of the members and fixed June 23 as next date of hearing.

The petitioners’ counsel Gaurav Mehrotra submitted that the state government did not comply with the provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995, while removing them.

On behalf of the state government, additional advocate general Ramesh Kumar Singh opposed the petition and placed the original records related to removal of the members before the court as per its earlier order.

Earlier this month, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered dissolution of both Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards and recommended a CBI probe into alleged irregularities to the tune of crores in Waqf properties.

THE MEMBERS WERE REMOVED BY THE YOGI GOVT ON CHARGES OF ANOMALIES IN RELATION TO WAQF PROPERTIES