Munambam holding: BJP urges Centre to implead in Waqf Vedhi’s appeal against HC order

The State unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has requested the Union government to implead in a special leave petition filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi before the Supreme Court, challenging the order of a Division Bench of the Kerala High Court, which struck down the registration of the contentious Munambam holding as a Waqf property.

Addressing the media here on Thursday (November 27, 2025), BJP State vice president Shaun George said the party’s State president Rajeev Chandrasekhar had made the request to the Centre.

Mr. George said the BJP would also be impleading itself in the case, while Minority Morcha State vice president Philip Joseph, a native of Munambam, had already filed a caveat.

Mr. George said his party’s stance was that the Munambam land dispute must be considered in the context of the Waqf Amendment Act 2025. He added that the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government and the Opposition United Democratic (UDF) were still reluctant to state that the Munambam land is not a Waqf property.

“The BJP wholeheartedly welcomes the High Court verdict granting the long-standing demand to restore the revenue rights of the residents of Munambam. The court order has upheld the BJP’s stand since the beginning. But even today, Law Minister P. Rajeeve was not ready to say that the Munambam land is not Waqf property. Nor does the Congress say that,” Mr. George said.

The BJP leader said that though the Munambam residents were allowed to pay property tax, the threat of Waqf claim was still hanging over their head, and a final court order was necessary to end their trouble.

“The BJP is proud to say that the law that designated the Munambam land as waqf property is no more there. Now, there should be a court order based on the existing Waqf law. For that, the Centre should implead in the case. We hope the Centre will respond favourably to our request,” he said.

Mr. George alleged that the LDF government was colluding with the Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi to get the High Court order stayed by the Supreme Court.

The Vedhi, an organisation for “restoration of alienated Waqf holdings,” has moved the apex court with the contention that the order of the Division Bench violated the doctrine of statutory finality by rendering its findings on the validity of the Waqf declaration, a matter that was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal.