Observing mass irregularities in the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board (MPWB) in the past four years, the newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nisar Ahmed has cancelled all the property transfers, rental agreements done during the period and has recommended the State Government to initiate criminal proceedings against the then CEOs.
The action appears as a major blow to the former MPWB chairman Gufran-e Azam as all the cancelled deals were done during his tenure.
Ahmed in a letter to Additional Chief Secretary of Backward Class and Minority Welfare department Suranjana Ray appraised that the then CEOs Shafiuddin Syed and Dawood Ahmed Khan who are facing lokayukta investigations in some cases are also involved in many other illegal deals of the Waqf properties that includes illegal rental agreements and illegal transfer of properties and illegal permission for construction on Waqf properties.
Ahmed has also attached a list of 48 properties from different parts of the State including State capital Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain and other places in which gross irregularities were committed by Syed and Khan.
“I have started proceedings for the cancellation of the actions taken against norms by these erring officials and I am of the view that a special team should be constituted in every district of the State to investigate the rental agreements, illegal transfer of properties and illegal constructions on Waqf properties,” he added.
The major rental agreements cancelled by Ahmed include that of land of Dargah Chand Shah Peer located in village Nipaniya of Indore.This prime property having area of .506 hectare was rented to ‘life care education society.’
The second agreement that is canceled is that of 1.323 hectare prime land of Hazrat Syed Nahar Shah Wali Dargah in Khajrana, Indore.This was rented to one Mohammed Iqbal Khilji while the third prime property that was rented to Divya Traders private limited is 490 hectare in area and is located in village Pipaliya Kumar Tehsil Indore.
Ahmed has recommended that prima facie it appears that Syed and Khan have done criminal conspiracy and joined hands with individuals to harm the Board and their act is amounted for legal action, hence criminal proceedings should be initiated against them.
All these three prime properties of Indore were rented at a throwaway rent of just 0.25 paisa per square feet with the conditions that the tenants could do construction of their will on them and that they could further lease it to other party on excessive rent.
Moreover while giving these properties on rent neither the rental guidelines by the district collector was followed nor does the opinion of the legal consultant of board was considered.