Mumbai: The Waqf tribunal in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) on Tuesday, put a stay on Mumbai's Jama Masjid trust from appointing a new mutawali (trustee) till the tribunal disposes an appeal by trustee Shuaib Khateeb challenging his expulsion from the body managing the city's most important mosque.
Khateeb had filed a suit in the tribunal, seeking a declaration that the resolution passed by the trust on September 28 and a notice on October 8 issued by other trustees expelling him, be quashed and set aside.
Asking for temporary injunction against the expulsion order, Khateeb pleaded that the defendants be injuncted from restraining him from performing his duty as a mutawalli and from attending the office of the trust and to fill up the post of trustee/mutawalli in his place.
Haseeb Kirkire, trustee of Jama Masjid, said, "No comments as of now."
Advocate A A Nimbalkar, who represented Khateeb, argued before the tribunal that the removal of the plaintiff as a trustee by the communication dated October 8 is illegal since there was no due process adopted for the removal and by the said letter, it has been intimated that the removal is on the basis of the confession given by the plaintiff on August 31. Nimbalkar stated that the plaintiff has not given any such confession and it is a false and frivolous ground raised by the defendants only to remove him. Nimbalkar said that considering that the vacancy of the trustee is to be filled up in the meeting scheduled to be on October 16, there is urgency and ex-parte ad-interim injunction may be granted.
Adil Khan, chairman/district judge,
Maharashtra State Waqf Tribunal, said that a trustee can be removed, if he otherwise participates in profits of any contract or work done in respect of the institution in question. Khan said that there is no recorded document which establishes that the ground of removal is a valid ground. The judge said that since the other trustees have called a meeting on October 16 for filling of the vacant post of the trustee after the removal of plaintiff, a case of grant of ad-interim ex-parte injunction is made out so that the post is not filled up till the matter is heard on merits. If the post is filled up, it will create complications as the right of third party would also create, the judge said.
Keeping the next hearing of the appeal on November 6, the judge granted ad-interim ex-parte injunction. The Jama Masjid trust did not respond to calls and messages for a comment.
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