Telangana high court quashes 2001 Waqf notification over Toopran lands | Hyderabad News

The petitioners contended that the lands were private patta properties inherited from their ancestors. They relied on occupancy rights certificates issued in 1990, pattadar passbooks, title deeds and revenue records that recorded them as the owners and possessors of the properties

Hyderabad: Telangana high court has set aside a 2001 gazette notification that classified several private lands in Medak district as waqf properties, holding that the Waqf Board failed to demonstrate compliance with the mandatory survey and enquiry process prescribed under law before issuing the notification.Justice Laxmi Narayana Alishetty passed the order on Sept 15 while allowing a writ petition filed by Syeda Ghousiya Sultana and 38 others and quashed the 2001 gazette notification The disputed properties together measure 5.8 acres across various survey numbers in Toopran village.The petitioners contended that the lands were private patta properties inherited from their ancestors. They relied on occupancy rights certificates issued in 1990, pattadar passbooks, title deeds and revenue records that recorded them as the owners and possessors of the properties.According to the petitioners, they came to know of the waqf classification only when they approached registration authorities for execution of sale deeds. They argued that no individual notices were served on them; no enquiry was conducted, and no opportunity was provided to raise objections before the lands were included in the list of prohibited properties.The Waqf Board, however, maintained that a survey of waqf properties had been conducted during the 1960s by the survey commissioner, and that public announcements had been made in villages.“The gazette notification had attained finality and that the present petition was barred by delay and availability of a remedy before the waqf tribunal,” the board contended.After examining the submissions of both sides, the court found that the board had failed to produce the survey report, enquiry proceedings, records relating to objections, proof of public proclamation or any other material demonstrating compliance with the requirements of the Waqf Act.The court observed that mere publication of a notification in the gazette could not substitute the mandatory statutory procedure, particularly when inclusion of land in the waqf list carried serious civil consequences for private landowners.