In the first ever action of its kind, Andhra Pradesh State Waqf Board has taken over five prime properties built on the Waqf or endowed land worth crore of rupees and also booked a case against the head of group of educational institutions which was being run on these properties.
The move of the Government to give the reigns of the Waqf Board to an IPS officer Shaikh Mohammed Iqbal as special officer seems to have started paying the dividends as the board has also taken over historic ‘Madina Building,’ another prime property in old city of Hyderabad by taking action against the Mecca Madina Allauddin Trust.
The five properties originally belonging to Majlis-e-Shoora Dast Parche Baafi Harmain Sharifain (MSDPBHS) include Baitul Madina, Nampally, Madina Manzil, Himayat Nagar, Madina Mahal, Hyderguda, Madina Vila in Mangalhat and ten shops in Vitthalvaadi area.
All these properties were under the possession of Madina Education and Welfare Society, headed by KM Arifuddin.
The crackdown came after the Andhra Pradesh HC passed strictures against the Board for failing to take action against the Madina society though a report about its irregularities was submitted to it ten years ago.
The inquiry in to the affairs of the society and misuse of the properties was instituted after a House Committee of Andhra Pradesh legislative Assembly found many irregularities.
The society was running schools and colleges on these properties. The buildings were constructed by the society headed by Arifuddin. Citing the Waqf Act, SM Iqbal told a press conference that even the buildings constructed on the Waqf land belong to the Board.
“The main reason for taking over the properties is the misappropriation of funds”, he said.
Giving an example he said the society was showing its income only Rs1,69,000 and paying a pittance of Rs11,777 as Waqf Fund to the Board where as the real income of the society from the educational institutions and other activities was Rs20 to Rs30 million (Rs2 to 3 crore).
KM Arifuddin who was the Mutawalli or caretaker of the properties under the Anjuma Dasti Parcha Baafi from 1984 to 1991 later formed Madina Educational Society and leased himself these properties for 30 years.