NEW DELHI: OKHLA MLA Amanatullah Khan on Tuesday was elected unopposed as a member of the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB). Khan, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator, was the only candidate, who had filed nomination for the vacant post-- member — MLA.
The returning officer and north Delhi District Magistrate Shinde Dipak Arjun handed over the certificate of election to Khan, officials of the Board said. With his election as a member of the Board, Khan is likely to return as chairman of the panel for the third time in a row. The Board chairman is elected by its members from one among them.
The Board comprises seven members. Khan, who had to resign from the Board in 2016 and 2018 over corruption charges, often draws criticism from the bureaucrats and rival political parties for his ‘autocratic’ style of working.
His previous term ended in February following the dissolution of the sixth legislative assembly. Khan was later re-elected from the same seat later on. The Waqf Board is the custodian of over 2,000 properties such as mosques, graveyards, schools, residential buildings, shops and land parcels among others across the national capital.
HC declines to waive cost on petitioner
The Delhi High Court declined to waive the cost of Rs 25,000 imposed on a petitioner who had challenged nomination of AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan for election as a member of the Delhi Waqf Board. The HC said the petitioner, in his petition, had said he would pay the costs, if it was imposed, and that he had the means to do so and now he was claiming financial hardship. “Who asked you to file the petition,” a HC bench asked the petitioner, Mohd Tufail Khan, and dismissed the application moved by him.