The need of the hour : Waqf bill

In a significant decision, the Lok Sabha approved the Waqf (Amendment Bill) on 3rd April 2025, with a vote count of 288-232, designed to reform the administration of Waqf properties throughout India. Shortly thereafter, the Rajya Sabha also approved the bill. Although the so-called ‘secular’ opposition parties persist in denouncing the Waqf Bill as an ‘attack’ on Muslim rights and their religious liberties along with constitutional principles, the bill is, in fact, a necessary adjustment to combat the widespread corruption allowed by the current Waqf Act 1995.

Fueled by the unchecked authority granted to Waqf Boards by the Congress-led government in the Waqf Act of 1995, a series of bold irregularities and corrupt practices—spanning extensive land seizures and dubious encroachments to the creation of fraudulent land documents—have been executed by Waqf officials across multiple states in India.

In July 2024, the High Grounds Police in Bengaluru, Karnataka, filed an FIR against Zulfiqarulla, the former CEO of the Waqf Board. The case was filed under Sections 403 (criminal misappropriation of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (criminal breach of trust by public servants), and 420 (cheating), following a complaint by Chief Accounts Officer Mir Ahmed Abbas, who alleged that Zulfiqarullah misappropriated Waqf funds eight years prior.

The grievance indicated that the government had appropriated the property of the Kalaburagi dargah, which belongs to the State Waqf Board, and compensated ₹2.29 crore along with an additional ₹1.79 crore from the Muzrai department. In November 2016, a total sum of ₹4 crore was deposited into the bank account of the Waqf Board. The former Waqf Board CEO Zulfigarulla, who is accused, reportedly moved the funds to different accounts in 54 transactions from October 2021 to February 2024. The names of the Deputy Commissioner of Bagalkot and the president of the tourism development committee also surfaced in this matter.

In July 2024, the Waqf Board of Madhya Pradesh sent a notice to Congress leader Riyaz Khan to recover Rs 7 crore. Following the complaint, an FIR was filed against Riyaz at the Kharakuan police station. Riyaz Khan, who led the Ujjain Waqf Board for approximately 26 years, was reportedly demanding money from shop owners situated on the Waqf Board’s property. Khan started his career as a tea vendor. Nonetheless, while serving as the leader of the Waqf Board in Ujjain, he accumulated significant wealth, which comprised three bungalows. Following corruption accusations made against him, Riyaz Khan disappeared, and the police announced a ₹5000 reward for his capture.

In its notification sent to Congress leader Riyaz Khan regarding the recovery of misappropriated funds amounting to ₹7 crore 11 lakh, the Waqf Board stated that Khan misappropriated ₹7 crore 11 lakh from 2006-07 to 2022-23. The Waqf Board established an inquiry committee on 2 August 2023 to look into Riyaz’s term. The inquiry revealed that 115 shops, 2 school structures, and 5 office spaces were established at Madar Gate as Waqf assets. Khan extracted rent from shopkeepers for several years through intimidation, but he neither reported it to the board nor accounted for the funds he gathered. The Congress leader treated Waqf property as if it were his own and made illicit gains from it.

In 2019, reports indicated that IAS officer and CEO of Punjab Waqf Board, Shaukat Ahmed Pare, uncovered a significant scam within the state Waqf Board and suspended the estate officer of Kharar, Mohammad Rizwan.

This case originates from 2015, where the Waqf Board was to receive approximately 12 crore rupees in return for the land provided in Kharar NHA. In this instance, the court ruled in favor of the lessees against the Waqf Board and instructed that three-fourths of the ₹12 crores be given to them, while conversely, three-fourths of the amount was meant for the Waqf Board. At that time, the CEO stated that the board obtained roughly 6.5 crore rupees via SDM Kharar, and ₹ 3.5 crore was set to be disbursed, but they intercepted it promptly. He remarked that the Wqf Board experienced significant losses because of this fraud.

In 2021, the Enforcement Directorate apprehended two individuals following raids in Pune and Aurangabad, Maharashtra, related to the Pune Waqf Board Scam Case linked to an unlawful transaction of the Tabut Inam Endowment Trust valued at ₹7.7 crore. The two accused presented fake documents, such as an NOC from the Waqf Board, and asserted a demand draft of ₹ 7,76,98,250. This sum was placed into a personal account. In a comparable incident logged at Bund Police Station in Maharashtra in 2021, Imtiaz Shaikh and Chand Mulani were detained on charges of pretending to be the president and secretary of Tabut Inam Endowment Trust and presenting a falsified document from the state Waqf Board, indicating its approval of their appointment. As a result, the collector’s office disbursed funds to them rather than to the trust members.

In December 2018, the Abids Police Station in Hyderabad, Telangana, filed a case after it became known that a fraudulent No-Objection Certificate (NOC) for 4 acres of Waqf land was generated. The NOC deceitfully acquired by the accused Mohammad Imtiaz, Mohammad Ziauddin, and Mohammad Wahaj Khan stated that Dargah Hazrat Pir Mehmood is not a Waqf property. The individuals charged were also connected to two additional similar cases related to waqf properties.

This collection of corruption cases in Waqf Boards is just a small fraction of the whole. Many scams, both reported and unreported, have involved Waqf properties. This widespread corruption has solely advantaged the affluent Muslim elite. Moreover, corruption in Waqf Boards, along with the unchecked authority granted to them by the Congress government in 1995, has empowered Waqf Boards to indiscriminately assert ownership over lands, houses, villages, colleges, and nearly everything imaginable. Corruption and political favoritism significantly empowered Waqf Boards, even as politicians catering to Muslims depicted them as an ‘oppressed minority.’

The previously mentioned 21 corruption cases clearly illustrate the decay present within the Waqf Boards throughout the nation. Numerous cases illustrate a disturbing scenario of avarice disguised as ‘protection,’ all under the guise of religion. Through unauthorized land seizures, bribery, and falsified documents, these frauds expose not just legal breaches but a systematic exploitation by a select elite, flourishing in the obscurity of an antiquated, outrageous, and biased legal framework.

As the dust clears from the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025, its commitment to enhanced oversight, digital records, transparent audits, and greater accountability may substantially reduce, if not entirely eliminate, this Waqf corruption issue, provided its implementation aligns with its objectives.