In a significant ruling on the scope of waqf administration, the Madras High Court has held that the mere presence of a dargah does not automatically make it a waqf property, stressing that the Waqf Board can assume control only after complying with the legal requirements laid down under the Waqf Act.
Justice K. Govindarajan Thilakavadi set aside a resolution passed by the Tamil Nadu Waqf Board in August 2023 that had declared the Sarkar Syed Habibullah Sha Kahdari Arif Rabbani Hazarat Dargah in Chennai's Triplicane locality as a waqf property and appointed a new Mutawalli.
The court allowed an appeal filed by M. Mohammed Azmathulaah, who claimed to have been serving as the hereditary Mutawalli of the dargah for nearly four decades. The appeal challenged an earlier order of the Tamil Nadu Waqf Tribunal, which had declined to interfere with the Board's decision.
In its ruling, the court observed that there was no material on record to show that the land housing the dargah had been formally endowed, surveyed, registered as a waqf, or notified in the official gazette, as required under law.
"Mere existence of a dargah does not automatically confer jurisdiction upon the Board," the court said, adding that the Board must first establish the necessary jurisdictional facts before assuming control over any institution.
The judgment further clarified that a dargah can be treated as a waqf only if there is a permanent dedication of property by a Muslim for religious, charitable or pious purposes recognised under Muslim law.
The court also noted that every grave, tomb or shrine cannot be presumed to be a waqf property, drawing a distinction between private family tombs and public religious endowments.
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