HYDERABAD: Responding to JPC chairman Jagadambika Pal questioning the legality of converting agricultural lands, mutts and temple properties into Waqf assets during his visit to Karnataka, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday said the former "does not have investigation powers" to probe the matter.
In a post on X, Owaisi said: "The chairman of the Joint Working Committee on the Waqf Bill 2024 recently went to Karnataka to look into some local matter. The Committee does not have investigation powers, its job is to look into the Bill alone. Moreover, the Chairman cannot act unilaterally & the Committee has to act collectively. We had already conducted a consultation in Karnataka. We are bound by parliamentary procedure so we aren't in a position to explain the questionable conduct of the Chairman since the formation of the Committee. I hope Lok Sabha speaker will take notice of the Chairman's behaviour."
Pal visited Vijayapura, Hubballi and Belagavi on Thursday and received memoranda from groups of farmers and BJP leaders, who alleged that lands being cultivated for decades are being marked as Waqf property without issuing any notices.