VHP saved 123 government properties after decades of legal battle

The Indraprastha Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Delhi state unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has saved 123 prime landed properties located in different parts of the national capital Delhi. Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s Central Working President Mr. Alok Kumar said, “We are happy to inform that after a long legal battle of about 40 years, we have saved 123 properties worth about 20 thousand crores from being illegally occupied by the Delhi Waqf Board. saved.”

He said that around 1910 the Government of India acquired vast properties in Delhi for the new capital of the country. The acquisition was completed and the properties vested in the government. In the late 70s, the Delhi Waqf Board notified 123 of the acquired properties as Waqf properties, many of which were located at strategically important locations. The government contested all 123 cases.

Shri Alok Kumar said that surprisingly at the behest of the then Union Waqf and Housing Minister Shri Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, the government decided to give these 123 properties on permanent lease to the Delhi Waqf Board at a rent of Re 1 per year. This order was passed on 27 March 1984.

Taking prompt action to save all those properties, the Indraprastha Vishwa Hindu Parishad challenged that notification in the Delhi High Court vide WP (Civil) 1512 of 1984, he added. The Hon’ble High Court in the very first hearing unilaterally stayed the proposed order.

According to Mr. Kumar, the writ petition was disposed of by the Delhi High Court on January 12, 2011, directing the Union of India to consider the matter afresh and take a decision within six months. The High Court further directed that till then the interim order passed by the High Court on 1st June, 1984 shall remain in force. But the government did not take any decision in this matter.

Shocked to learn that instead of conducting a fresh inquiry into the matter, the Manmohan Singh government rolled back the process of acquisition completed more than 100 years ago. A notification in this regard was issued on March 05, 2014. It is worth noting that the government issued this notification just a few hours before the notification of the Election Commission for the Lok Sabha elections.

He said that the VHP complained to the Chief Election Commissioner terming it as a violation of the Model Code of Conduct and Indraprastha VHP challenged this notification in the Delhi High Court under WP(C) No. 2901/2014. The government could not defend its action and made a statement that the Indraprastha Vishva Hindu Parishad’s writ petition would be treated as a representation and an appropriate decision would be taken at the earliest.

According to the VHP working president, the government appointed a two-member committee under the chairmanship of Justice Shri SK Garg (retd) to investigate the matter. The committee sent several notices to the Delhi Waqf Board. The Waqf Board did not appear before the committee. He didn’t file a claim. Thus the Committee had to conclude that the claim of the Board was not substantiated.

According to Mr. Alok Kumar, the Government of India has accepted the decision of the two member committee and thus the above 123 properties will remain with the Government and will not be transferred to the Waqf Board. He congratulated the people of Delhi for this decision.