Recent Interesting Decisions on Waqf Property

While the relevance of the Waqf Act might be questionable, there is also the the problem of illegal land encroachment. Establishments such as the Central Waqf Board could be illegally gaining control of land by terming them as waqf properties. These Boards have time and again been accused of acquiring lands and public places by fraudulent means. 

On the other side, are the majority of Mutawalis / custodians and religious leaders working hand in glove with Muslim politicians in grabbing Waqf land? In Telangana reportedly more than 2/3rd of Waqf property has been encroached.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/a-sordid-tale-of-encroachments-and-inaction/article37062875.ece 

The (M.P., Karnataka) High Courts have held that when an appeal is made against any decision to the Tribunal and the decision of the Tribunal is final then the jurisdiction of the Civil Court is dismissed.

In February 2022 the Supreme Court observed that the Waqf Board can determine the nature of the property as Waqf only after conducting an enquiry as prescribed under section 40 of the Waqf Act. 

Also in Feb 2022 - SC upheld Telangana govt’s right over 1654 acre Hyderabad land claimed by Wakf Board. The Telangana government had leased out the land for setting up a university etc., township and other institutions of repute. The state government had appealed to the Supreme Court after losing out before the Andhra Pradesh HC in April 2012. The state had claimed that as a result of the HC ruling, it would be required to pay a huge sum running into thousands of crores of rupees as compensation to the Telangana Waqf Board.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/sc-upholds-telangana-govt-s-right-over-1654-acre-hyderabad-land-claimed-by-wakf-board-101644258721835.html 

In a judgement related to Rajasthan, in April 2022, the Supreme Court held that in the absence of proof of dedication or "grant" (the disputed area) cannot be recognised as a religious place for offering namaz.

https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/waqf-act-dilapidated-structure-cannot-be-recognised-as-a-religious-place-for-offering-namaaz-without-proof-of-dedication-supreme-court-197919 

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On Waqf Property

A waqf is an inalienable charitable endowment under Islamic law. It typically involves donating a building, plot of land or other assets for Muslim religious or charitable purposes with no intention of reclaiming the assets. Any person believing in Islam can dedicate or give his or her property in the name of God for religious and charitable purposes, such property is Waqf property. This is an irrevocable and permanent dedication /transfer. A non-Muslim cannot transfer property as Waqf unless he or she believes in Islam. 

While there was the Waqf Act 1954, Waqfs in India are now governed by the Act of 1995. A survey commissioner under the Act lists all properties declared as Waqf by making local investigation, summoning witnesses and requisitioning public documents. 

A Waqf Board is a juristic person with power to acquire and hold property. Each state has a Waqf Board headed by and with Muslim personal on it - recognised scholars of Islamic theology.

Section 40 Waqf Board Act mentions that any property in India can be claimed as Waqf Board Property. And under Section 52: The Waqf Board can, after the inquiry, ask the local Collector to deliver the possession of the property.

While most of them are Sunni Waqf Boards, the country does have some Shia Boards too. For any dispute with the Waqf Board, one must appeal to the Waqf Tribunal. The Wakf Act was amended in 2013, making it mandatory for States to constitute a three member Tribunal which would include one person knowing Muslim Law. There are huge and multiple Waqf properties in India, thus for e.g. the Jama Masjid in Delhi, the two Imambaras in Lucknow are Waqf properties. 

Incidentally, the board also takes 7% of the income from waqf property – 1% for the Central Waqf Council, and 6% for itself.

https://www.indiatimes.com/explainers/news/what-is-waqf-act-and-who-owns-the-waqf-land-in-india-567556.html

The issue really also is - no civil court has any jurisdiction. So an aggrieved person would have to approach a High Court. And how many would have the wherewithal to do so is a *big* question. And would he/she consider the effort, money and time worth it?

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Previous : Hippocratic Oath and Charak Shapath

Hippocratic Oath and Charak Shapath

The Dean of Madurai Medical College was removed on May 1 2022 after a batch of new students were administered an oath in Sanskrit attributed to the ancient Indian sage Maharshi Charak instead of the traditional Hippocratic Oath in English.

NMC (which replaced the Medical Council of India as the regulatory body for medical education and practices)  recently suggested that medical colleges may allow their students to take ‘Charak Shapath’ instead of the Hippocratic Oath, historically taken by physicians the world over. This oath is attributed to Hippocrates, a physician from the Greek island of Kos, from the classical period (4th-5th centuries BC). The earliest available fragments of the original oath date back to the late 3rd century AD.

Charak Shapath or Charak’s oath is a passage from the 'Charak Samhita' which is a guideline by the acharya (or a teacher) to medical students. A part of the Shapath comes as a sermon by the Acharya. Charak was one of the principal contributors to Ayurved and was the editor of the medical treatise entitled ‘Charak Samhita’. The compendium serves as one of the foundational texts of Ayurveda. Like many sages in ancient Indian history, Charak’s historicity is unknown. The Samhita however is a pharmacopoeia dating back to the 1st-2nd centuries AD. Charak Shapath or Charak’s oath is a passage from the 'Charak Samhita' which is a guideline by the acharya (or a teacher) to medical students. A part of the Shapath comes as a sermon by the Acharya.

The incident triggered a controversy with the language being a sensitive issue in Tamil Nadu. The State govt. “will oppose and defeat the efforts to “impose” languages like Hindi and Sanskrit”. Their Health Minister Subramanian said that deans of all medical colleges in the state have been asked to stick to the Hippocratic Oath. 

Undergraduates at All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS) — the country’s premier institute for medical education — have been administered the Charak Shapath during their annual convocation for several years now, at least since 2013. The AIIMS oath includes: “Not for the self, not for the fulfilment of any worldly material desire or gain, but solely for the good of suffering humanity, I will treat my patient and excel well”.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reportedly “assured that Charak Shapath will be optional and will not be forced to replace the Hippocratic Oath”.

On May 4, the State Govt. reinstated the Dean of the Madurai Medical College.

My opinion : Tamil Nadu Govt seems to consider itself closer to a Greek Island than to that within India.

https://www.timesnownews.com/education/tamil-nadu-charak-shapath-row-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-differ-from-hippocratic-oath-article-91257708 

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Katchtheevu and India's Territorial Sea Rights

Territorial sea extends to a limit of 12 nautical miles (approx. 22 kms) beyond the coastal landline with full sovereignty over the air space, above the sea, over the seabed and subsoil. Other countries have right of innocent passage through the territorial sea but not of air space.

Katchatheevu is a 163-acre uninhabited island located between Neduntheevu, Sri Lanka and Rameswaram, India - traditionally used by fishermen of both countries, and presently administered by Sri Lanka. The island used to be a part of the Ramnad Kingdom in Madurai which, during the British rule, became part of the Madras Presidency. Ownership of the island has been controversial as during the British rule, the island was administered by both countries. In 1921, both Sri Lanka and India laid claims to Katchatheevu.

In 1974, then PM, Indira Gandhi ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka under the "Indo-Sri Lankan Maritime agreement". Another agreement of 1976 was on fishing rights.

The Sri Lankan Navy came into the picture during their Civil War to control the smuggling of weapons by LTTE. With depletion of fish and aquatic life in the Indian continental shelf, more fishermen poached into the Sri Lankan sea area. In 2010 the Sri Lankan government issued a notice to Tamil Nadu government saying the Indian court cannot nullify the 1974 agreement.

The island is important to fishermen of Tamil Nadu and has led to some agitations. The legality of the transfer was challenged in the Supreme Court since the recognizing was not ratified by the Indian Parliament (as provided in the agreement) nor was the State Govt consulted. In June 2011 the CM Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa, filed a petition in the Supreme Court that the declaration of the 1974 and 1976 agreements between India and Sri Lanka on ceding of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka were unconstitutional. The matter is still sub-judicial.

However, the Indian government had stated, "No territory belonging to India was ceded nor sovereignty relinquished since the area was in dispute and had never been demarcated" and that the dispute on the status of the island was settled in 1974 by an agreement, and both countries took into account historical evidence and legal aspects.

This island Katchatheevu was "gifted" by Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka in 1974 and is still a matter of dispute with Indian fishermen getting arrested or even killed. Apart from the issue of fishing rights etc. there is, in my view, also the issue of territorial sea extending about 22 km beyond the land, the sovereign rights to the airspace,  over the sea and the seabed below. Distance from India to main Sri Lanka is 55 kms but to Katchatheevu merely 25 kms.

So who has territorial sea rights over the sea between?

https://www.indiatimes.com/explainers/news/katchatheevu-island-a-gift-to-sri-lanka-is-now-causing-fishermens-conflict-564430.html

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Previous : Kendriya Vidyalayas

Kendriya Vidyalayas

The Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan aims to set-up  & manage schools under CBSE, for the children of transferable employees of the Government of India, floating populations & others including those living in remote & undeveloped locations of the country. All Kendriya Vidyalayas are co-educational, composite schools. The quality of teaching aims an appropriate teacher-pupil ratio. There is no tuition fee for boys upto Class VIII, girls upto Class XII and SC/ST students and children of KVS employees.

Even today, it's mission statement reads “to cater to the educational needs of children of transferable Central Government including Defence and Para-military personnel by providing a common programme of education”;

https://kvsangathan.nic.in/about-kvs/mission 

Seems anyone and everyone had quotas. Previously, for e.g. an MP was allowed to recommend two admissions in an academic year, increased to five in 2011, six in 2012, and 10 in 2016.  5 seats in each section of class 1 were filled by the children of sponsoring agencies. The Union Education Minister was allowed to recommend admission of 450 students under a separate ‘discretionary’ quota. There were many other “entitlements.” This year’s recommendations apparently exceeded 60,000 with demands for more seats

We in the public sector would recall that admission for our kids, to Kendriya Vidyalayas, was well nigh impossible – our transfers were not recent enough or frequent enough to make us entitled.  

These quotas have now been generally scrapped. 👏👏👏  This is expected to free over 40,000 seats in the centrally-funded schools across India. Some criteria have been added or continue.

KVS will now be having seats for children who have been orphaned due to the covid-19 pandemic. There is provision for single girl children. There are quotas for Armed Forces

Children of serving KVS employees will also be considered for admission  but for class 9, the child has to clear the admission test. No admission to the wards of retired persons.

Children of central govt employees who died in harness, children of recipients of various gallantry wards, meritorious sports children etc can get admission.

https://www.news18.com/news/education-career/kendriya-vidyalaya-admissions-mp-edu-ministry-quotas-gone-covid-19-orphans-added-check-new-rules-for-kvs-5062075.html

Next : Katchtheevu and India's Territorial Sea Rights

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