In the midst of an ongoing controversy involving the properties controlled by Bhopal's erstwhile ruling clan, the state government has sought a list of all Waqf Board properties in adverse possession, as well as enemy properties in the district, claimed sources on Tuesday.
The sources said that the district administration will prepare the lists in consultation with the revenue department. Notably, hundreds of crores worth of Waqf property are in adverse possession.
The lists are expected to be circulated to all government departments in an attempt to stop encroachers from seeking bank loans or illegally transferring the properties to other people.
Those in the know say that several Waqf properties mentioned in Gazette notifications have never been recorded in the name of the government-run auditor.
Contrary to prevailing opinion, the Waqf Board is a statutory body of the state government that audits the financial records of various charitable trusts and societies under its purview.
With large tracts of land under the control of powerful members of the Muslim community, a Joint Parliamentary Committee is currently looking into the workings of Waqf Boards and the properties they are mandated to oversee.
The matter involving enemy property in the city emanates from the migration of Abida Sultan, the eldest daughter of the last ruler, Nawab Hamidullah Khan, to Pakistan in 1950.
While one part of the erstwhile ruling clan claims that Abida Sultan is not one of the inheritors of the last Nawab's estate, as it was the 'ruler's property,' others say that the properties were his personal holdings.