AAP govt reconstituting Waqf Board by violating Waqf Act: BJP

A delegation of BJP legislators today met Lt Governor Anil Baijal and sought his intervention in the matter related to reconstitution of the Delhi Waqf Board by the Arvind Kejirwal government.
Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta, who led the delegation, alleged the government was reconstituting the Board in "violation" of the Waqf Act, 1995.
"The Delhi government is bent on reconstituting the Waqf Board in utter violation of the Waqf Act 1995 and the Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2013, throwing moral propriety and ethical considerations to the winds," Gupta said in a statement.
He also charged that Amantullah Khan, the "tainted" former chairman of the Waqf Board, was being reappointed to the post.

Khan is facing cases of criminal breach of trust which are being probed by the CBI, he alleged.
The delegation also complained to the LG that "ineligible" persons were being nominated to the Board.

Section 14 of the Waqf Act stipulates nomination of a Muslim person having professional experience in town planning, business management, social work, finance or revenue, agriculture and development activities, to the Board by the government.
"But it has come to our notice that a woman politician without any formal or professional degree has been nominated as a member of the Board," Gupta alleged.
Section 14 also stipulated nomination of one person -- a recognized scholar in the Shia and Sunni Islamic theology. "This rule is being violated as no such person has been nominated to the Board," the BJP legislators claimed.

The Delhi Waqf Board comprises seven members, who elect the chairman. Khan was elected as a member of the Board last week.
The AAP MLA was chairman of the Waqf Board for 6 months last year. He had resigned amid allegations of irregularities during his tenure and raids on the office of the Board by the Anti-Corruption Branch in September 2016.