Panakkad Syed Rasheed Ali Shihab Thangal, former chairperson of the Kerala Wakf Board, has denied former Minister K.T. Jaleel’s claim that a meeting chaired by him had approved giving board appointments to the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC).
Mr. Jaleel had flashed the copy of the minutes of a board meeting during a debate in the Assembly to allege that it was Mr. Rasheed Ali Thangal, as the chairperson, who gave a green signal for the decision. He had claimed that he too was present at the meeting.
Mr. Rasheed Ali Thangal told the media here on Tuesday that the former Minister’s argument that he had attended the Wakf Board meeting itself was a lie. A Central Act forbade State or Union Ministers from becoming its members.
“Mr. Jaleel had participated in a meeting of the social welfare sanction committee under the board in his capacity as the chairperson on July 19, 2016. Showing the minutes of that meeting, he is now claiming that he had attended a board meeting,” Mr. Rasheed Ali Thangal said. He also produced a copy of the minutes of that day’s board meeting, which had not discussed the issue of PSC appointments.
M.C. Mayin Haji, a member of the previous and existing Wakf Board, said only Muslims could be appointed in it as per regulations. If the PSC takes over the recruitment, it could be legally challenged in the future saying why only members of one community was being chosen for the jobs.
He said that it could also lead to Muslims losing out quota benefits, which would be now based on a rotation basis. P.V. Sainudheen, another member of the previous and existing board, said that none of the Wakf boards in other States had the practice of PSC conducting appointments.
