HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has directed the Telangana State Waqf Board to take immediate control of the Shia Waqf Institution, Ibadat Khana, located at Darulshifa, by removing the illegally constituted committee. The committee had previously barred Shia women from performing religious functions at the Ibadat Khana, prompting legal intervention.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka overturned the Waqf Board’s June 1, 2023, decision, which had approved the committee. Senior Advocate P Venugopal, representing the petitioner society, Anjuman-e-Alavi Akhbari, argued that the committee members had encroached upon the Waqf property and were unlawfully approved as a Mutawalli Committee in violation of the Waqf Act, 1995.
The petitioner society informed the Waqf Board of alleged breaches of the Waqf Deed and the Act but claimed no action was taken. Consequently, the society approached the high court, asserting that the committee’s approval was based on false information.
Previously, the high court upheld the rights of the Shia Akhbari community, allowing Shia women to perform religious functions such as Majlis and Jashans at the Ibadat Khana. This decision was reinforced by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Srinivas Rao in a 2024 writ appeal.
In its latest ruling, the Single Judge ordered the Waqf Board to assume direct management of the Ibadat Khana and ensure equitable representation of both Akhbari and Usooli sects of Shias in the newly constituted managing committee.