Kerala may go for full-fledged revamp of Waqf Board

Kerala may soon undertake a full-fledged reconstitution of the State Waqf Board after taking a cue from the recent decision of the Madras High Court.

The Madras High Court had restrained the recently reconstituted Tamil Nadu Waqf Board from exercising any powers under the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act after it left some posts vacant. Incidentally, the Kerala government had earlier reportedly toyed with the idea of leaving a few posts vacant. The Chennai court found that slots of two non-Muslims, one professional with experience in business management, social work, finance or revenue, agriculture and development activities, and another a member of the State Bar Council were not filled as envisaged under the recently amended Act in Tamil Nadu.

Hectic parleys are on in Kerala to identify candidates for all the slots to the board to complete the process before the announcement of the Assembly polls, which is due in April, sources indicated.

Incidentally, the State government and the Kerala board had earlier stiffly opposed the provisions of the Act for the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Waqf Board. With the State Assembly polls around the corner, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]-led State government may tread a cautious path in reconstituting the board by including two non-Muslims, considering the socio-political sensitivity of the decision.

Another challenge before the Kerala government is to identify two Muslim women civic representatives to be nominated to the board. The search is on for two such members with legal background from among the elected women civic representatives of the State.

Meanwhile, the nominees of AP and EK Sunni Muslim factions will find a place in the Kerala board as the Act has insisted that the State boards shall have at least one member each from the Shia, Sunni, and other backward classes among the Muslim communities.

The provision that one member each from the Bohra and Aghakhani communities shall be nominated to the board if they have functional Waqfin the State will not be applicable in Kerala, as these Muslim communities are non-existent in the State, sources indicated. The final call on the reconstitution of the board is likely to be taken early next week, sources added.