Confusion has gripped the Telangana State Waqf Board (TSWB) as former Telangana Rashtra Samithi MLC Mohammed Saleem continues to occupy the seat of chairman of the Muslim endowments body.
While activists and a section of the staff and board members opine that Mr Saleem’s term as chairman is co-terminus with his membership of the State legislature, the latter maintains that he can continue to discharge his duties as head of the board.
The issue arose soon after Mr Saleem addressed the media on the Masjid-e-Ek Khana demolition from the office of the chairman on Friday.
“I don’t know in what capacity is he speaking. The functioning of the board is on the brink of collapse. And a clear decision cannot be taken in connection with Mr Saleem sitting in the office of Chairman as no full board meeting has been called for. The government is also silent in this regard,” a senior board official said.
Seeking govt. response
Members are likely to write to the government to seek a clarification on Mr Saleem’s role in the board, said a senior board member.
Mohammed Ilyas Shamsi, an activist, said with Mr Saleem’s term as an MLC coming to an end, the “right thing” would be to step down. “The government does not seem interested in the TSWB. Otherwise, it would have taken some measures for improving its functioning and giving it more powers by constituting a commissionerate. Mr Saleem still sitting in the chairman’s seat is a serious issue and must be looked into,” he said.
Citing a 2016 order of the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench), a High Court lawyer dealing with waqf cases said, “The order states that if the term of an MLC, who is a member of the State Waqf Board, ends, then he ceases to be a member of the board with effect from the date on which he ceased to be the MLC.”
Mr Saleem, however, disagreed. “I can continue to serve as chairman of the board. Firstly, the Waqf Act is silent on the term of MLCs as it speaks only of MLAs. Secondly, I was elected unopposed as chairman and a government order on this is available. This allows me to complete my five-year term. There are court orders allowing this. Those saying otherwise do not know what they are talking about,” he told The Hindu.