The High Court of Karnataka on Tuesday directed the State government to clarify what action has been taken based on the report submitted by the Lokayukta on the irregularities related to wakf properties in the State.
The court also directed the government to clarify whether a special report, on ‘Misuse of wakf properties and their illegal disposal and encroachment’ submitted by the Karnataka State Minorities Commission (KSMC) on March 26, 2012 has been laid before both the Houses of the State legislature as per Section 10(2) of the KSMC Act, 1994.
The court also noted that law mandates the government also to submit before the legislature the memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations and the reasons for non-acceptance, of any such recommendations made by the commission.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order on the PIL petition filed by 83-year-old S.K. Kantha, a former Minister.
While seeking a direction for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into irregularities in wakf properties, the petitioner has claimed that the government did not act either based on the commission’s report on the report sent by the Lokayukta in 2016 after holding an inquiry as per the terms and reference made by the government itself.
