New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) The Delhi High Court has directed that the status quo be maintained till April 5 on a notice of no-confidence motion moved against Delhi Waqf Board Chairman Amanatullah Khan.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued notice to the Lieutenant Governor and the Delhi Government on Khan’s plea seeking a direction to the competent authority to decide the representations seeking the removal of two Board members before action is taken on the ‘notice of no-confidence motion’ of March 3, 2022 given against him.
The two members – former Congress MP Parvez Hashmi, and Chaudhary Shareef Ahmad – whose removal has been sought in the representations are among those who have submitted the notice against Khan.
The judge listed the matter for further hearing on April 5 and ordered, “in the meantime, status quo shall be maintained”.
The petition contended that “if the members instrumental in moving the ‘notice of no-confidence motion’ are themselves not eligible to continue as members of the Board, then the purported ‘notice of no- confidence motion’ would be rendered wholly otiose and as such vitiated.” Delhi government lawyer Sameer Vashisht told the court that the petitioner’s representation is under active consideration of the competent authority.
The petitioner, represented by lawyer M Sufian Siddiqui, submitted before the court that the Board sent two representations on December 27, 2021 and March 7, 2022, seeking the removal of the two members but no action has been taken by the state government yet.
On March 4, four of the seven Delhi Waqf Board members – Hashmi, Chaudhary Shareef Ahmad, Razia Sultana and Naeem Fatima Kazmi – had submitted the notice of no-confidence motion against Khan to the LG’s office, levelling allegations of corruption, illegal recruitment and high-handedness against him.
Khan, AAP MLA from Okhla, has termed the allegations against him as “false”.
In the petition, Khan has said the Delhi Waqf Board sent representations to the LG, the Revenue Minister and the Divisional Commissioner pointing out that Parvez Hashmi has not attended even a single meeting after becoming a member of the Board and that Chaudhary Shareef Ahmad is disqualified from continuing as a member of the Board.
The court impleaded the four Waqf Board members are parties to the petition.
“In those representations, the Delhi Waqf Board sought that immediate directions be issued for the removal of those two members from the membership of the Delhi Waqf Board by publishing in the Official Gazette as provided under Section 20 of the Waqf Act, 1995. However, till date no action has been taken by the state government on the aforesaid representations,” the plea by Khan has claimed. PTI ADS RT RT
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