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Synopsis

Attorney General KK Venugopal, in his letter seeking adjournment in the Maharashtra Wakfs matter has stated that, “Looking at the entirety, it seems whoever is behind this whether beneficiaries of transfer or anyone else is bent on ensuring that Attorney General does not argue in this case."

The controversy erupted in a batch of petitions raising the issue, 'whether every charitable trust which is set up by a person practicing Islam, automatically becomes a Waqf Property' after AG Venugopal, who was appearing for the Wakf Board, suffered from Covid-19 and in the process, could not appear in the matter. 

The nonagenarian, in his earlier letter, had expressed his displeasure over a letter he received from the Maharashtra Wakf Board, informing him that, “alternate arrangements have been made to go ahead with the matter” since AG circulated a letter of adjournment on account of his health.

The present letter written on August 8, 2022 notes that the matters have been pending since 2011 in the Supreme Court and all the transferees were all in peaceful possession of the properties that they had purchased from various concerned trustees. It did not appear as urgent as no one's possession was disturbed, it states.

It has further been stated that "on July 14, 2022, Senior Counsel Harish Salve mentioned the case and by looking at the issue one would find it difficult to find any urgency or what prompted the matter to be taken up for urgent disposal. Looking at the eminence of counsel, it was listed".

The letter states that AG and Salve were opposing each other in a matter in Delhi High Court involving Reliance Industries where the claim of the government against the company is in the range of $1.5 Billion. Salve had finished the arguments and he wanted to start on August 2, 2022 and hence the hearing for the Wakf matter was fixed on August 10, 2022. However, the AG tested positive for Covid-19 on July 27, 2022, and on the same date he received a communication stating that the Maharashtra Wakf matter is being mentioned for an earlier hearing.

The letter further notes that when the matter was mentioned on July 29, 2022, the Supreme Court was apprised of the AG being unwell. However, the CJI stated that he would see AG’s state of health on August 2, 2022, and will thereafter decide on hearing of the case.

The AG, reiterates the contents of his  earlier letter, which had mentioned that some shocking steps have been taken by whosoever is behind the conduct of this case. AG's letter states that Javed Sheikh, the special counsel appointed by the Wakf Board, who has been instructing him in the Wakf Board cases since 2011 has been removed from his post. It further highlightes that Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr. Adv, who had informed the court on the last occasion that he would be leading him and had been instructing him in the matter, has been withdrawn from the case.

The earlier letter stated that removing counsel at the last minute is a serious, uncalled for, and unwarranted attempt to interfere with the administration of justice and amounts to contempt of court. 

In the light of the above, the AG states that "if there is contempt involved in this case, which could myself initiate under Section 15 of the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, so long as am the Attorney General, the alleged contemnors may have to purge themselves of the contempt before addressing arguments in relation to the legal issues arising in the matter."

Additionally, AG Venugopal has requested that this letter may be placed before the Chief Justice of India, so that the present batch of cases could be adjourned till his health recovers, and he is able to appear in this matter.

When the matter came up for hearing on the last date, the Supreme Court slammed the Counsel for Maharashtra Wakf Board for acting in this manner despite there being a letter filed before the Court seeking adjournment of 2 weeks on the count of the health of Attorney General.

Chief Justice of India NV Ramana, falling heavy on the counsel, said, " Attorney General is here, he is down with Covid. Is this how you deal with him?" The bench refused to hear the matter and directed the same to be listed on the day on which it was earlier supposed to be.

Background

The heart of the issue lies in a controversy in 1997. Maharashtra conducted a survey to list Waqfs in the state which was completed in 2002. However, a common board was constituted for both Shia and Sunni sects by the state government which was one of the main grievances. 

The order had also directed the charity commissioner to continue supervising the Muslim Public Trusts including those Waqfs not registered as public Trust. In view of this, the contours of the Waqf Act became an issue of contention.

In 2004, Haji Ali Dargah Trust, Anjuman-i-Islam and Zainum Morriswala Trust challenged the constitution of the Waqf Board by the state government of Maharashtra as defective. The Bombay High Court held that all public trusts will be governed by the Public Trust Act. 

Earlier, CJI Ramana had said that several petitions raise this question as they have challenged a question of law from a 2011 Bombay High Court order which had set aside two circulars issued by the state of Maharashtra in 2002, vide which Waqf Board had been constituted under the Waqf Act, notifying properties to be designated as Waqf. The High Court had stated that the state would be at liberty to supervise Waqfs not registered as a public trust.

Case Title: Maharashtra State Board Of Wakfs V. Shaikh Yusuf Bhai Chawla & Ors. (& connected matters)