The Supreme Court has found the State government’s supersession of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board “unsustainable in law,” saying the State cannot take advantage of its own wrong.
In a judgment, a three-judge Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan held that the September 18, 2019, notification of the State superseding the Board was not prompted by “any action, inaction or omission and misconduct on the part of the Board”.
In fact, the supersession was rather due to the number of elected members on the Board reducing to less than the nominated members after the term of A. Anwhar Raajhaa, a Member of Parliament, came to an end in May last.
“The event of cessation of membership of an elected member is not under control of the Board. It was the duty of the State government to constitute the Board as per the objectives enshrined in Section 14(4) [of the Waqf Act of 1995]. The State government has ample power to conduct election for the members,” the court observed in its judgment on November 3.
Section 14(4) provides that elected members of the 11-man Board shall, at all times, be more than the nominated members.
In May 2019, with the exit of Mr. Raajhaa, the number of elected members became four with six nominated members, making the Board unable to perform its functions. The State subsequently issued the supersession notification.
