Supreme Court Restores Functioning of Tamil Nadu Waqf Board, Stays Madras HC Order
The bench directed the State to submit a proposal for the Board’s composition to preserve continuity pending a challenge to its formation.
Overview
- The Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi stayed the High Court’s January 8 restraint on the Board.
- Notices were issued on the Waqf Board’s Special Leave Petition, with the Court asking to be apprised of pending appointments at the next hearing.
- Senior advocate P. Wilson told the Court that eight of eleven seats have been filled and that the Bar Council nominee is pending due to ongoing Bar Council elections.
- The Madras High Court had found prima facie non-compliance with Section 14 of the 1995 Act, citing the absence of two non-Muslim members, a Bar Council nominee, and a second professional member.
- The Board argued that Section 22 of the Act protects its proceedings from invalidation due to vacancies, and the Supreme Court invoked the doctrine of necessity in allowing it to function.