Notification on Waqf Tribunal to be issued soon: Delhi govt

A notification for setting up a three-member Waqf Tribunal would be issued as soon as the name of its third member is finalised, AAP government told Delhi High Court today.
The government informed a bench of Chief Justice G Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal that names of two members of the Tribunal have already been finalised and the process of nominating the third member was going on.
It said that Mukesh Kumar, an officer of the Delhi Higher Judicial Services, and Rajeev Shukla, dditional District Magistrate in Delhi government, have been nominated as members of the Tribunal.
"For nomination of third member of the Waqf Tribunal, a person having knowledge of Muslim law and jurisprudence, the file has been submitted to government for seeking approval..," it said.

"The notification of constitution of three member Waqf Tribunal shall be issued by the revenue department, Government of NCT of Delhi, soon after the finalisation of third member as stated above without any further delay," the AAP government said in its short affidavit filed in the court.
The court is hearing a petition seeking direction to Delhi government to set up the Tribunal and frame the rules in this regard so as to make the new Waqf Act 1995 operational.
The court had earlier sought Delhi government's response on a plea filed by advocate Shahid Ali which has also sought a direction to enforce eviction orders regarding 990 Waqf properties in the national capital. The orders passed have been awaiting enforcement for several years.

Ali had claimed in his plea that he has written a number of times to Chief Minister and petitioned him for establishing the Tribunal, but no action has so far been taken.