Eviction Suit Maintainable before Wakf Tribunal if the tenant disputes property is not Wakf: Supreme Court

Case: Telangana State Wakf Board vs. Mohamed Muzafar

Coram: Justices Hemant Gupta and AS Bopanna

Case No: CA 4522 OF 2021

Court Observation: “In the said case, the suit in question was filed by the plaintiff before the competent civil court but the defendants, namely the Wakf Board had contended that the issue is to be decided by Wakf tribunal. They filed an application and sought transfer of the suit to the Wakf tribunal which was accordingly ordered by the civil court and was also upheld by the High Court in Revision. Subsequently, having succeeded on merits before the Wakf Tribunal had failed in the writ petition wherein the claim of the plaintiff was upheld. The Wakf Board at that point raised the contention that the tribunal did not have the jurisdiction in the appeal filed before this Court by placing reliance on Ramesh Gobindram (supra). This Court in the facts arising therein had held that the judgment passed by the Wakf tribunal in the circumstance cannot be held as without jurisdiction.”

“In the said circumstance, the instant case cannot be deemed as an admitted case of the property being Wakf property as in the reply notice itself the respondent had disputed the same. It is in that circumstance the appellants being of the impression that the first issue to be established is that the property in question is the Wakf property, which could be considered by the tribunal, had filed the suit before the Wakf Tribunal.”

“In such circumstance, the Wakf Tribunal had the jurisdiction to determine that question which had been framed as an issue in this suit. Further as already noted, on the facts evolving in the instant case, the tribunal had relied upon the evidence available and had arrived at the conclusion that the property in question is Wakf property and had accordingly decreed the suit.”

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