The petition said Ashwani Kumar was not eligible under the Waqf Act of 1995 and took advantage of the fact that the Delhi Waqf Board was in an indefinite abeyance due to the negligence of the respondents
Supreme Court of India. File Pic
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday refused to examine a plea against the appointment of Delhi government's Principal Secretary (Home) Ashwani Kumar as the Delhi Waqf Board administrator on January 10, reported news agency PTI.
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A bench of Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal asked the petitioner to move to the Delhi High Court.
The apex court was hearing a plea filed by one Zameer Ahmad Jumlana. According to PTI, the plea was to seek directions to restrain and prohibit Kumar from discharging functions as the administrator of the Delhi Waqf Board and to vacate the office with immediate effect.
Lieutenant Governor (LG) V K Saxena, who approved Kumar's appointment, also gave the go-ahead to the appointment of IAS officer Azimul Haque as Delhi Waqf Board's CEO on Friday.
The petition alleged that the term of Delhi State Waqf Board expired on August 26, 2023, and since then no board was constituted, as per PTI.
The plea contended in the absence of the board, its powers were taken over by the LG by appointing Kumar purportedly using the powers under Section 99 of the Waqf Act, 1995, stated PTI.
"When the tenure of the board has lapsed on August 26, 2023, there is no question of exercise of any power of the state government under Section 99 of the Waqf Act 1995 to take over the board. Thus, the respondent number 1 is an usurper of the power of the Delhi State Waqf Board," it said.
Kumar was not eligible under the Waqf Act of 1995 and took advantage of the fact that the Delhi Waqf Board was in an indefinite abeyance due to the negligence of the respondents, as per the petition.
The Delhi High Court, on May 28, dismissed a similar plea filed by one Yasmin Ali and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000.
The high court said the plea was publicity-oriented and an abuse of the process of law as it did not give any valid reasons for quashing the appointment of the city government officer as the administrator of the board, reported PTI.
(With inputs from PTI)
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