Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has taken strict action against the State Waqf Board by ordering the digitization of their records within six weeks.
The court has also demanded the records section to be open for access, warning of contempt of court if these orders are not promptly implemented.
This decision was reached after considering a writ petition filed in the High Court and reviewing previous orders related to it.
In an earlier order (writ petition no. 23976/2023), the court had granted a six-week extension for compliance and ordered the opening of the record section. However, these instructions were not adhered to.
During discussions, senior counsel Mr. Abdul Muqit Qureshi, representing the petitioner, pointed out that placing the Telangana State Waqf Board records under the supervision of the Finance Department had caused several issues and was a clear violation of the rules.
The Waqf record section had been sealed for an extended period based on verbal orders from the state government, leading to numerous concerns about the status and number of the waqf records.
Despite efforts by the Telangana State Waqf Board and the government, the court rejected their arguments and directed them to complete the digitization of Waqf records within six weeks and open the record section.
In 2017, the Telangana government had announced a probe by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CBCID) into the mismanagement of waqf properties and orally ordered the sealing of the Telangana State Waqf Board’s records section along with officials from the finance department, who took custody of all the records.
The Telangana High Court’s decision comes as a response to the ongoing issue of the record section’s closure, despite repeated calls for its reopening.
