TIRUPPUR: Caught between the landowners and the board, the State registration department wants the waqf board to come out with a statutory order to untangle the legal maze.
A top official of the department said, “We are just a registering arm of the State. If two parties claim ownership over same land, we will register the document in the name of the entity that has the original documents.
On the issue of notices to sub-registrar offices, we have asked the waqf board to issue a statutory order. Last week, the board issued notices claiming an entire village in Tiruchy spread over 2,000 acres as its property. This created a huge problem and we asked them to clarify and they later withdrew the notice and promised to produce original documents. In the issue of Avinashi, villagers can submit the original documents to revenue department and by getting detailed advisory and clarification from the Tiruppur revenue department, they can proceed for registration.”
When questioned about the decision to send such notices to sub-registrar offices, TN Waqf Board Chairman M Abdul Rahman said, “The State government has asked land records and properties of religious institutions, including temples and waqf board, to be retrieved and regularised.
As part of the regularisation process, the board started digitising records of its properties. These waqf assets could be used for public purposes, but making profit for personal gains from them cannot be allowed. The property list retrieved from our registry is being sent to sub-registrar offices across TN. More such list of survey numbers will be sent out soon.”
A revenue department official in Tiruppur said, “Waqf board has given a letter to the sub-registrar office in Avinashi, claiming it to be its property. But no record of its ownership is found in the land registry at the Village Administrative Office of Cheyvur. As per records, two individuals who were original owners had willfully given the land to the government.
The patta was first converted to poramboke land and then to Adi Dravida Nattam land and distributed to beneficiaries in 1996. We will be submitting a report after consulting the District Revenue Department and will send an advisory to the sub-registrar of Avinashi declaring that these people are the current owners.”
Manonmani Jagannathan, a social activist, said, “The beneficiaries got the patta from government under free category. These lands belong to survey no 255/1, 255/2, 255/3. These numbers are registered in the land registry maintained at the VAO office. People who have built their houses on these lands with their savings and borrowed money are now worried about the ownership. When we sought details, officials are tightlipped on the issue. We even launched a protest but no action has been taken so far.”