MP: Auqaf-e-Shahi's executive board dissolved

The five-member executive board of Auqaf-e-Shahi (royal Waqf properties) has been dissolved by the CEO of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board.
The executive board was constituted in March by Saba Sultan, the daughter of the late Mansoor Ali Khan, Mutawalli (custodian) of the Auqaf-e-Shahi, to de-centralise its authority to enable it to work for the welfare of the people.
But the MP Waqf Board CEO Nisar Ahmed dissolved the executive board yesterday on the grounds that it was "unconstitutional," Ghufran-e-Azam, one of the members of the executive board, told PTI over the phone today.
While dissolving the executive board, Ahmed held that Auqaf-e-Shahi has to be run in consultation with Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board and threatened legal action if the dissolution notice was not followed, Azam said.

Prior to the dissolution of the board, retired Deputy Collector Omar Farooque Khatani resigned yesterday as its member, saying he was not happy with its working as the board was not fulfilling the expectations of the people.
However, Azam, the former chairman of MP Waqf Board, said the CEO has no power to dissolve the committee as only the Mutawalli has the authority to appoint or dissolve it.

Azam said that during the merger agreement between the Government of India and the then Nawab of Bhopal, it had been agreed that the princely Waqf properties, including Rubaats (guest houses) in the holy cities of Mecca and Madina would be managed by the Mutawalli and no government will interfere in its functioning.

Meanwhile, Ahmed rubbished Azam's claim that his decision to dissolve the committee was illegal. He said that in his view, Saba had no power to set up a committee of this kind.
Apart from Azam and Khatani, the five-member executive board for Auqaf-e-Shahi had Reliable Group of Industries chairman Sikander Hafeez Khan, retired IFS officer Mohammad Hashim and former BHEL general manager ZU Alvi as its members.