Objection filed in connection with election of Delhi Waqf Board member (MLA) disposed off

An objection filed in connection with the election of member (MLA) of the Delhi Waqf Board has been disposed off by the divisional commissioner, paving the way for the appointment of a new chairman for the panel, officials said.

An objection filed in connection with the election of member (MLA) of the Delhi Waqf Board has been disposed off by the divisional commissioner, paving the way for the appointment of a new chairman for the panel, officials said. The board is without a chairman for the past over six months and the process of appointing a chairman has also been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they said. The seven-member Waqf Board includes four elected members — an MLA, a current or former parliamentarian, mutawalli (manager or custodian of a mosque) and a Bar Council member. The remaining three are nominated members, including a Delhi government officer, a social worker and a Muslim scholar.

The seven members of the board choose one of them as chairman of the panel. The election of member (MLA) was scheduled on August 25 but it was postponed due to the objection filed by an individual with the divisional commissioner’s (revenue) office, they said.

The election was postponed as the electoral roll could not be finalised as the objection and scrutiny of nomination papers was stalled, said a senior officer of the Delhi government. "The complainant had also filed a petition in the high court which was rejected. Now, his objection filed with the office of divisional commissioner has also been disposed of so the process for election of member MLA will resume," he said.

The complainant had objected to the nomination of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan for the membership of the Waqf Board referring to a case of corruption registered by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2016, the officials said. Khan, who is the MLA from Okhla, is the only nominee in the election. Previously too he held the post of member (MLA) which fell vacant due to assembly polls in February this year.

"With the disposal of the objection, fresh dates for scrutiny of nomination and election will be announced by the district magistrate of north Delhi who is the returning officer for the election of member (MLA)," said a Delhi Waqf Board officer. If Khan's nomination is found legal in the scrutiny, he will be declared elected unopposed, he said.

District magistrate north Delhi Dipak Arjun said he was yet to receive information of the disposed objection. Khan had previously served as the chairman of the board for around six months in 2016 before resigning in May, and again from September 2018 to March 2020.

The Waqf Board is custodian of over 2,000 properties such as mosques, graveyards, schools, residential buildings, shops and land parcels across the national capital..