Daijiworld Media Network – New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 11: The Delhi High Court has sought the response of the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea seeking the constitution of the Delhi Waqf Board in accordance with the Waqf Act, 1995, as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

Justice Anish Dayal issued notice to the governments on the petition, which seeks directions to complete the statutory process for constituting the Board.

The petitioner's lawyer submitted that the tenure of the previous Delhi Waqf Board ended in August 2023, but no steps had been taken to constitute a fresh Board. An administrator was appointed by the Delhi government in January 2024, but the Board has not yet been constituted.

On September 8, the court granted four weeks to the Centre and Delhi government to file their replies. The matter will next be heard on December 10.

Petitioner Mohd Shahid contended that even after the 2025 amendment, Parliament has retained the statutory obligation to constitute a Waqf Board for every state and Union Territory. He alleged that the continued failure to constitute the Board amounted to a breach of the statutory obligation.

The plea further alleged that the prolonged absence of the Board had exposed valuable waqf properties in Delhi to risks of encroachment, unauthorised occupation, illegal alienation, misuse and deterioration.

It also claimed that mosques, graveyards, educational institutions and other waqf establishments dependent on statutory supervision had suffered prejudice, while beneficiaries had been deprived of safeguards provided under the law.

The petition argued that executive authorities could not allow a Parliamentary enactment to become ineffective through prolonged inaction and described the delay as arbitrary executive action and a violation of the rule of law.

Lawyers Rizwan Ahmad, Feroz Khan Ghazi, Mohd Wasiq Khan, Himanshu Gupta and Mohd Shoaib Ansari represented the petitioner.