MP High Court Quashes Waqf Board Order Expanding Waqf Land Without Approval

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that the Chairman of the Waqf Board cannot unilaterally expand waqf property and that such powers can only be exercised collectively by the Board under the Waqf Act, 1995. Justice Deepak Khot set aside a 2012 order issued by the Chief Executive Officer of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board that had included privately owned land within an existing waqf property.

The petition was filed by Khalida Bee and others, who argued that they had lawfully purchased the land through registered sale deeds in 2010 and 2011. They contended that only limited portions of Survey Nos. 290 and 292 had been notified as waqf land in 1989, while the remaining land continued to belong to private owners.

The Court found that the impugned order was passed solely on the directions of the Waqf Board Chairman and later communicated by the CEO, without any approval from the Board itself. Observing that the Board is a statutory body comprising several members, the Court held that the Chairman alone could not exercise powers vested in the Board under Section 41 of the Waqf Act.

Holding the order to be “without jurisdiction,” the High Court quashed it and clarified that parties remain free to pursue remedies before the Waqf Tribunal in accordance with law.