Bangalore: Allegations that the state Waqf board is illegally leasing or selling endowment assets have been rejected by the chairman of the Karnataka Waqf Board, Maulana Shafey Saadi, and the chairman of the board’s legal committee, Advocate Riaz Ahmed Khan.
Addressing the media on March 15 here, Maulana Shafey said that although proposals for leasing endowment properties have been received, the board will make a decision after carefully reviewing them in accordance with the guidelines for leasing to educational institutions. Also, it was included in the board meeting’s agenda. According to Maulana Saadi, Advocate Hanif, who is the subject of multiple charges, including losing a board case, has been removed from the board’s legal panel. The meeting rejected the proposal of the Mysore Urban Development Authority in which the body had proposed to grant compensation in place of four acres of land.
The board decided that two 30-by-40-foot plots would be used to build two large complexes in place of this one. Also, he refuted claims that the Jamia Masjid of Vartur’s 10-acre site had been sold. Out of the 20 acres of land, the sons of the custodian of this Jamia Masjid sold ten acres in 2015, with the other 10 acres remaining in the Waqf Board’s control.
It is important to note that Congress leader Obaidullah Sharief had claimed that Waqf assets are being leased in violation of the law on the basis of a letter from the Waqf Board’s attorney Muhammad Hanif to the CEO. Corrupt activities were exposed in this letter. In this context, he made note of the illicit leasing of the waqf properties in several districts.
Before the board meeting, he had sent a letter to all of the board members, including the CEO, outlining his concerns. He said that the CEO had assured that the endowment would not be used for any illicit actions.
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