Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a civil revision petition filed by Syed Hafiz Ali and five others challenging the inclusion of two houses and two shops near Masjid Dhooldhoye at Kidwai Marg, Barwali Chowki, in Indore, in the Waqf property register.
Justice Vinay Saraf, while deciding two connected civil revisions on Tuesday, upheld the Madhya Pradesh State Waqf Tribunal Chairman's order dismissing the family's ownership claim.
The court also allowed a cross-revision filed by the MP Waqf Board, setting aside the Tribunal's State Member's findings recognising the plaintiffs' ownership, while retaining the finding that their suit was barred by limitation.
The dispute concerns properties bearing survey numbers 7156 and 7157, measuring 0.042 hectare. The plaintiffs claimed these were ancestral properties belonging to their grandfather, Mir Mohammad Ali Hasan, whose name appeared in the 1910 Indore City Survey records.
They challenged an amendment dated October 22, 1997, alleging that two houses and two shops were added to the Waqf register without a fresh survey, notice or opportunity to raise objections.
The family approached the Waqf Tribunal in February 2010, seeking declaration of title, possession and permanent injunction.
The Waqf Board and mosque committees opposed the claim, maintaining that the properties had been under the mosque's management for decades and that rental income was being used for religious purposes.
Examining historical records, Justice Saraf observed that the 1910 municipal survey was conducted for property tax assessment and could not be treated as proof of ownership.
The court noted that the mosque committee had been managing the properties since at least 1929, when the municipality granted property tax exemption for houses 37 to 39, as their income was used for religious purposes.
The court also noted that the plaintiffs' father and uncle had challenged the mosque committee's construction permission in 1944, claiming ownership on the basis of the 1910 survey. Their appeal was dismissed on April 14, 1944, and no further legal challenge was pursued.
1997 amendment merely clarified property description
The High Court found that the original Waqf notification dated August 25, 1989, had registered the mosque and adjoining property over a total area of 12,540 square feet. The 1997 amendment merely clarified that the registered property comprised three houses and two shops, without increasing the total area.
Holding that no new property had been added, the court observed that the plaintiffs had not challenged the original 1989 notification. It also found that they had failed to produce any valid title document, while the defendants had submitted municipal records, tax exemption receipts and rent documents dating back several decades.
On limitation, the court held that the cause of action arose in 1929 and was reinforced by the dismissal of the predecessors' appeal in 1944. The challenge filed in 2010 was therefore hopelessly delayed.
Consequently, the High Court affirmed the Tribunal Chairman's October 25, 2018, order, dismissed Civil Revision No. 65/2019 filed by Hafiz Ali and others, and allowed civil revision filed by the MP Waqf Board. No order as to costs was passed.
