“ ‘Declaring Munambam land as a Waqf property was a land-grabbing tactic of the Waqf Board’, says Kerala HC. Read how the Waqf Board tried to displace 600 families”, Opindia, October 11, 2025

“In a significant decision, a division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday (10th October) held that the Kerala Waqf Board’s decision to declare the disputed land in Munambam a waqf property was “bad in law” and was a “land-grabbing tactic”.

A Division Bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar VM also set aside the order of a Single Bench passed in March this year, quashing the Kerala government’s decision ordering the formation of an inquiry commission to examine the rights of about 600 families facing eviction from the disputed land. The decision was passed by a Single Bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas after members of the Waqf Samrakshana Samithi challenged the state government’ order before the High Court.

The Single Bench had held that the commission, appointed in November 2024, led by retired Justice CN Ramachandran Nair to recommend solutions, lacked the authority to intervene in the matter already decided or pending before the Kerala Waqf Board under the Waqf Act, 1995. Overturning the Single Bench’s decision, the Division Bench said that the petitioners had no locus standi to challenge the state government’s order before the Single Bench. “The original writ petitioners do not possess the locus standi to have instituted the writ petition before the Single Bench, which clearly ought not to have been entertained at their instance,” the Division Bench noted……”

Read full article at opindia.com