NEW DELHI, Feb 18: A bill providing for imprisonment of up to one year and fine of Rs 5,000 or both to unauthorised occupants of waqf properties was introduced in Rajya Sabha today.
The stand alone legislation for waqf properties – Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Bill, 2014 – seeks to provide for a speedy mechanism for eviction of unauthorised occupants from waqf properties and stringent measures to deal with their illegal occupation.
The bill introduced by Minority Affairs Minister K Rahman Khan, if passed, will bar the jurisdiction of Civil Court in entertaining any suit or proceedings in this regard. A Waqf Estate Officer will have the same powers for holding an inquiry under the Act as are vested in civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. Under the new law, when such an inquiry is on, a Waqf Estate Officer will have the powers of summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath, requiring the discovery and production of documents and other related matters. The bill seeks to vest the power in Waqf Estate Officer to realise payment of rent or damages on account of use or occupation of such property.
“If any person unlawfully occupies waqf properties, he shall be punishable with simple imprisonment for a term, which may extend to six months, or a with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees. “…If any person, who has been evicted from any waqf property under this Act again occupies the property without permission for such occupation, he shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term, which may extend to one year or with fine, which may extend to Rs 5,000,” the bill said.
Waqf (Amendment) Act 2013, which came into force in November last year by amending Waqf Act 1995, makes provision for removing encroachment of waqf properties but Government brought this legislation as it was felt it is not stringent enough to deal with such encroachment or illegal occupation.
The new bill seeks to vest in a Waqf Estate Officer powers to order eviction of unauthorised occupants of such properties, remove unauthorised constructions, demolition of unauthorised construction and power to seal unauthorised construction.
Once the bill is passed, no court shall have jurisdiction to entertain any suit or proceedings in respect of the eviction of any person, who is unauthorised occupant of any waqf property, the removal of any building, structure, fixture, goods, cattle or other animal from waqf property and the demolition of any building or other structure made or ordered to be made by Waqf Estate Officer under sections six or seven of the Act. (PTI)
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