A Bill seeking imprisonment of up to one year and fine to the tune of Rs 5,000 or both to unauthorised occupants of Wakf properties was introduced in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
The standalone legislation for Wakf properties (donated for religious and social welfare) -- Wakf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014 -- seeks to provide for a speedy mechanism for eviction of unauthorised occupants from Wakf properties and stringent measures to deal with their illegal occupation.
The illegal occupation of Waqf properties has been a major concern and efforts to enact laws to contain it have led to controversies. The Bill introduced by Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan, if passed, will bar the jurisdiction of Civil Court in entertaining any suit or proceedings in this regard. A Wakf Estate Officer will have the same powers for holding an enquiry under the Act as are vested in civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
Under the new law, when such an enquiry is on, a Wakf Estate Officer will have the powers of summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of documents and other related matters. The bill seeks to vest the power in Wakf Estate Officer to realise payment of rent or damages on account of use or occupation of such property.
"If any person, who has been evicted from any Wakf property under this Act again occupies the property without permission for such occupation, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to one year or with fine, which may extend to Rs 5,000," the Bill said. Wakf (Amendment) Act 2013, which came into force in November last year, makes provision for removing encroachment of Wakf properties but the Government brought this legislation as it was felt it lacked teeth.
The new Bill vests the Waqf Estate Officer with powers to order eviction of unauthorised occupants, remove unauthorised constructions, demolition of unauthorised construction and power to seal unauthorised construction in Wakf properties. Once the Bill is passed, no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceedings in respect of the eviction of any person, who is unauthorised occupant of Wakf property.