Waqf Board Petition Seeks Criminal Probe, Seizure of Records of Three Major Hyderabad Educational Clusters
HYDERABAD: A solemn legal petition was filed before the Chief Executive Telangana Waqf Board / Auqaf on Saturday; this petition sought immediate direct administration, seizure of records, judicial audit, recovery of losses and criminal prosecution in respect of three major clusters of Waqf/endowed educational properties — Anwar-ul-Uloom in New Mallepally; Madrasa-i-Aizza / Neo School Aizza / Nawab Shah Alam Khan College of Engineering and Technology in Malakpet; and Mumtaz Yarud Dowla Foundation properties, including Asafia School, Mumtaz Degree College and Mumtaz College of Engineering and Technology in New Malakpet.
The petition alleges that these properties were not only mismanaged, but were gradually transformed into a family-controlled private financial structure starting around 2000. Deccan Chronicle has a copy of the petition.
The petition was filed in the backdrop of the murder of Foundation activist and Supreme Court lawyer Khaja Moizuddin on May 23. The prime accused in the case, Mujahid Alam Khan and his father Mahbub Ali Khan, are linked to three educational clusters.
Petitioner Khaja Tanveer Ahmed told Deccan Chronicle, “Valuable trust and endowment lands used for education and public charitable works were allegedly operated through private society offices, secretary/correspondent positions, banking powers, lease agreements, educational approvals, fee collections, rent arrangements, litigation tactics and questionable management claims.”
Ahmed said the petition specifically called for examining the roles of Mahbub Alam Khan, Mujahid Alam Khan, Dastagir Ali Khan, Gulham Yazdani and their associated family members, candidates, officers, lessees, lessees, bank signatories and private petitioners wherever their names appear in association records, educational files, bank records, lease agreements, land declarations, correspondence, court proceedings or money lines.
When asked about the allegations in the petition, Supreme Court lawyer Sadath Ali Siddiqui told Deccan Chronicle that the criminal element expressed in the petition will be serious if Waqf properties are shown as private community property, valuable lands are rented at nominal or artificially low rent, fee-generating colleges and schools are run on Waqf/endowed lands without proper Waqf accounting.
“If the income has been transferred through contacts, contracts, organisations, bank accounts or benami style agreements, then the matter is no longer just a Wakf management dispute,” Siddiqui said. “This is a sensitive case for breach of trust, fraud, forgery of accounts, use of forged documents, unauthorized alienation of Foundation properties and possible money laundering,” the Supreme Court lawyer said.
His government has called for a CBI and ED investigation against Mujahid Alam Khan, his driver Muneer and Hasan Ali to examine whether they were involved in hawala operations.
