The Munambam petitions challenging the listing and registration of land as Waqf will be heard afresh at the Waqf Tribunal under the Waqf Act, 1995, with a new judicial officer set to assume charge as chairperson this week.
T.K. Minimol, district judge, will take charge on Wednesday. She will succeed Rajan Thattil, the chairperson of the tribunal, who had been hearing the petitions filed by Farook College, Kozhikode, challenging the Kerala Waqf Board’s acts of listing and registering the Munambam holding as Waqf for the last two years. The parties to the litigation had been keenly contesting the case, which had left a socio-political impact on the State.
The Waqf Act 1995 will continue to govern the cases though Parliament had enacted the Waqf Amendment Act 2025 as the acts that are being challenged before the tribunal took place much before the new enactment, according to judicial sources.
Rijiju’s claim
Incidentally, Kiran Rijiju, the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Minority Affairs, had earlier claimed that the 2025 amendments would apply to the ongoing litigations and help the Munambam residents in claiming the revenue rights of their holdings. He had also claimed that the changes in the constitution of the Waqf Board and tribunals, as proposed in the 2025 amendments, would be beneficial to the residents in their legal pursuit for justice.
Two cases
The Munambam litigation began at the Waqf Tribunal in September 2023 when the secretary of the Managing Committee of Farook College challenged the decision of the State Waqf Board declaring the Munambam holding as Waqf on May 20, 2019.
In another petition, the Farook College also challenged the decisions of the Waqf Board registering the Munambam holding as a Waqf in the name of Sidhique Sait. The petitioner challenged the decisions of the board by invoking the provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995. Since the process of law has been set in motion in both the litigations before the enactment of the new amendments, the law that was in force at the time of the Act in question will be binding, which is a fundamental legal principle covered by the General Clauses Act, pointed out judicial sources.
No retrospective effect
The 2025 Act has not given any retrospective effect to its provisions except Section 3 of the Act, which speaks about the trusts established by a Muslim for a purpose similar to a Waqf. The 2025 Act will have only a prospective effect, and all cases that are pending before various judicial fora before the latest enactment will be governed by the 1995 legislation. While all the substantive issues in such cases will be decided based on the earlier laws, the 2025 legislation will have an influence only on the procedural aspects in such cases, they pointed out.
Published – May 18, 2025 07:56 pm IST
