Kochi, 19 August (H.S.):

The Kerala High Court on Wednesday gave the State government six weeks to fill vacancies in the Kerala State Waqf Board in accordance with the amended Waqf Act.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. granted the time after Advocate General K. Jaju Babu informed the court that the government had initiated the process under the amended legislation.

The Bench clarified that it was not examining at this stage whether the Board should be reconstituted for failing to include all categories of members mandated by the amended Act.

At an earlier hearing, the court had observed that no judicial order prevented the government from reconstituting the Board. It had also indicated that the government could, as an interim measure, nominate the required non-Muslim members to facilitate its functioning.

The court was considering a batch of public interest litigations questioning the Board’s composition. The petitions allege that non-Muslim members and representatives of certain Muslim communities have not been included as required under the amended law.

One petition was filed by the Assembly of Christian Trust Services (ACTS), a Christian charitable organisation. It has sought a direction to the government to issue a fresh notification constituting the Board in conformity with the amended Act. ACTS alleges that representatives of the Shia, Bohra and Aghakhani communities have also been excluded.

The organisation has challenged the uploading of details relating to the disputed Munambam land on the Centre’s UMEED — Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development — Portal. It contends that the move affects Hindu and Christian families living in the area.

ACTS has argued that only the mutawalli, or manager of a waqf property, is authorised under the Act to furnish such information for uploading on the portal.

Another PIL, filed by BJP leader Shone George, seeks the immediate nomination of two non-Muslim members. It also seeks a declaration that the Board is functioning in violation of Section 14(1) of the Waqf Act, as amended in 2025. The court had earlier directed the government to submit an affidavit.

A separate petition raises similar objections and questions the inclusion of CPI(M) politician and former MLA Kunhammed Kutty Master as a Board member.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Arun Lakshman