The much awaited meeting of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board (MPWB) was held here on Monday. All members of the board including its chairman Shoukat Mohammed Khan, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nisar Ahmed, MlA Arif Aqueel, Bar council member Mehboob Ansari and Shia representative Mehboob Hussain, except MR Khan were present in the meet that took several decisions.
later, board chairman Shoukat Mohammed Khan while talking to The Pioneer said, “Many important decisions were taken but the issue having top interest of the Bhopalites related to the Auqaf-e-Shahi, has been postponed for a while.”
Auqaf-e-Shahi is the royal endowment trust of erstwhile Bhopal State. After the demise of late Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan, his daughter Saba Sultan was appointed mutawalli (custodian) of the trust controlling properties in the state worth over Rs 1,200 crore.
Khan further said that any decision over Auqaf-e-Shahi would be taken after due legal consultations. The matter has been handed over to our bar council member Mehboob Ansari to prepare a detailed note clearing all legal hassles if any within seven days, he added.
Notably, the MPWB had served notice to the trust mutawalli (custodian) over alleged financial irregularities and sought her removal under the Waqf Act in July. After a board meeting, officials said members sought more time on ‘removal of mutawalli (custodian)’ under the Section 26 of Waqf Act.
Khan said, Auqaf-e-Shahi approached the Waqf Tribunal for relief, ahead of MPWB decision. “The decision to approach Tribunal contradicts Auqaf-e-Shahi’s previous stance that trust does not come under the ambit of MPWB. We have already initiated a special audit into the Auqaf-e-Shahi’s financial records from the year 2008 to 2013. There are serious objections that need to be clarified by the trust,” said MPWB chairman Shoukat Mohammed Khan.
He further said, “The next meeting of the MPWB is though scheduled for next year in February but we could meet after a week to decide the fate of Auqaf-e-Shahi Mutawalli Saba Ali khan.”
The important meet cleared the construction permission sought by various district Waqf committees besides constitution of pending district Waqf committees. The other important decision taken in the meet was to ask the state government for appointment of a full time CEO for the board. The meet also decided to appoint a person on compassionate grounds, a decision taken for the first time in board’s history.