Supreme Court Limits Waqf Tribunal Jurisdiction to Recognized Properties

Overview

• On January 28, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K Vinod Chandran held that tribunals may hear disputes only over properties in the statutory list of auqaf or registered under the Waqf Act.
• The Court set aside the Waqf Tribunal’s injunction and the Telangana High Court’s affirmance in Habib Alladin & Ors. v. Mohammed Ahmed, rejecting the plaint under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC for want of jurisdiction.
• It ruled that a tribunal cannot decide waqf status for an unlisted, unregistered property, pointing to the mandatory scheme under Chapters II and V and the preconditions reflected in Sections 6(1) and 7(1).
• The judgment restored the narrower approach from Ramesh Gobindram and resolved conflicting precedents that had read Section 83 as granting expansive powers to tribunals.
• The Court left the question of the property’s waqf character open to be pursued in the proper forum or after compliance with statutory listing or registration requirements.