HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Wednesday asked the Telangana government as to why it has not appointed the member (revenue) to the Wakf Tribunal.
The bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Ramesh Ranganathan and Justice A Shankar Narayana was hearing the petition filed by the AP Wakf Bar association seeking direction that the Wakf Tribunal at Hyderabad for the Andhra Pradesh state shall continue to receive and dispose of the matters referable to the territory of Telangana state also till commencement of Wakf tribunal for Telangana state. Petitioner’s counsel Mohammad Ilyas submitted that the present Wakf tribunal (in the premises of city civil court complex, Hyderabad) is functioning only for the state of AP where as the Wakf tribunal for TS has become defunct due to lack of infrastructure and non-posting of the member. Though petitions are received by the staff, work isn’t taking place and the petitioners who approach the tribunal are going back without their grievance being redressed, he claimed.
The bench then asked the government counsel for TS as to why the state has not taken the initiative in the subject matter which deals with public grievances. As per the Supreme Court direction, all the states in the country have to fill up the posts of the Wakf tribunals within four months from Dec 2015. In reply, the government counsel said that he will get instructions on the issue of appointing a member to the Wakf tribunal. The bench posted the matter to Monday for further hearing.