Waqf bill: Parliamentary panel seeks details of properties in ‘unauthorised’ occupation of State governments

Parliamentary committee seeks details on Waqf properties, amid controversy over the proposed amendment bill.

The parliamentary committee scrutinising the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has sought details from various State governments about the veracity and updated details of Waqf properties which, according to the Sachar committee, they had occupied in an unauthorised manner, sources said.

The parliamentary committee, whose tenure has been extended by Lok Sabha till the last day of the next Budget Session, has also sought from the states details of the properties claimed by Waqf boards exercising Section 40 of the Waqf Act.

Section 40, an amendment effected during the Congress-led UPA government's tenure in 2013, is one of the most hotly contested features of the existing law as it has given Waqf boards the power to decide if any property belongs to the Waqf or not.

The proposed law, which has faced flack from opposition parties and various Muslim groups for its alleged attempts to interfere in religious matters, has sought to curb this power while making a slew of other changes in the existing Act.

The sources said the parliamentary panel has decided to get an update on the points made by the Sachar committee on the Waqf properties that are allegedly in unauthorised occupation of state governments or their official agencies.

The Sachar committee was informed by various state Waqf boards during 2005-06 about the alleged unauthorised occupation.

The parliamentary panel has been collecting information from States through the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs.