KOZHIKODE: The state government has the powers to acquire the disputed land in Munambam and hand it over to the people who purchased it, said M A Nisar, former district judge and law secretary, whose report on waqf properties is at the centre of all discussions.
“Invoking Section 91 of the Waqf Act, which bestows power on the government to acquire land, will be the pragmatic solution to the Munambam issue, Nisar told TNIE.
Meanwhile, the state government has convened a meeting of stakeholders on Friday to resolve the land dispute in Munambam, where about 615 families are fighting for rights to the land following claims by the Waqf Board.
According to Nisar, the government should conduct a survey to find out the present status of the land holdings in Munambam. “Only a few acres will be sufficient for distribution among the people who bought the land and they should be given permanent titles. The compensation for the loss incurred should be collected from the Farook College management because what they did is a criminal breach of trust,” he said.
“Criminal and civil proceedings should be initiated against the management for knowingly selling the waqf land and thereby creating all the problems that Munambam is witnessing now,” he said.
‘Resort mafia should be punished’
Nisar said the resort mafia which encroached upon the land should be punished in an exemplary manner
“I was surprised when I came to know about the sale made by the Farook College management. No one knows where the money from the sale has gone. The management cannot act in this way. They should be made accountable,” he said.
Asked about the ongoing discussions on his report, Nisar said the report is no longer relevant as the High Court has vindicated the position that the land at Munambam is indeed a Waqf property. “There is no point in making hue and cry. The only legal solution will be to approach the Supreme Court to set aside the High Court order,” Nisar said.
He said the Farook College management’s contention that the land was given as a gift will not stand legal scrutiny. “The management had earlier reclaimed some alienated land through legal remedy, asserting that it was a Waqf property. The claim that it was a gift emerged only after 1990s after the management sold a portion of the land,” he said.
Nisar was appointed as the enquiry commission by the then minister Paloli Muhammad Kutty during the tenure of V S Achuthanandan government when there were allegations about rampant irregularities in handling Waqf properties.
“I submitted several reports and Munambam is only one among the issues I pointed out in the reports,” he said. He discounted the political allegations raised against him and the contention that he arrived at conclusions without applying mind. “I am happy that I tried to protect God’s property,” he said.