HC grants interim relief to Munambam residents in land dispute with Waqf board

In a major relief for over 600 families of Munambam, who are embroiled in a land dispute with the Kerala Waqf Board, the Kerala High Court on Wednesday passed an interim order allowing the residents to remit land tax on the disputed land.

A single bench of Justice C Jayachandran, on Wednesday, passed the interim order directing the District Collector, Tahsildar, and the Village Officer to accept tax from the persons residing in the disputed Munambam land that the State Wakf Board has claimed to be its property. The order came in response to a batch of petitions filed by the Munambam Land Protection Council and several other affected residents who were not allowed to pay their taxes due to the ongoing dispute with the Waqf Board.

Advertisement

The petitioners moved the high court contending that despite living on the land for decades and possessing a clear title through a registered gift deed, the village office refused to receive land tax citing objections from the Waqf Board. They added that according to the records, the land was a gift to Farook College for the development of the college and had never been registered as Waqf property.

“The petitioners have got absolute title over the properties and they are even now paying tax as per the earlier sale deeds. However, the Village Officer is refusing to accept the tax of respective properties on the reasoning that the Waqf Board raised the claim over the properties. What is required is to accept tax in respect of the properties and other related activities, such as mutation, transfer, mortgage etc, which cannot be denied by the authorities,” the petition further says .

The interim relief follows a landmark judgment delivered on October 9, 2025, by a Division Bench comprising Justices Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Syam Kumar V M holding that the disputed 1950 endowment deed did not amount to a permanent religious dedication and therefore could not be considered a valid Waqf deed under the Waqf Acts of 1954, 1984 or 1995. “The endowment deed of 1950 never intended to create any permanent dedication in favour of the Almighty God, but was simpliciter a gift deed in favour of Farooq Management and therefore could never qualify as a Waqf deed,” the court had observed.

The Division Bench had also ruled that the Kerala Wakf Board’s 2019 decision to declare the land as Waqf property was “bad in law” due to unreasonable delay and violation of statutory provisions.

Around 610 families of Munambam coastal Village in the Ernakulam district have been protesting for over one year against the claim by the Waqf board on their land. The issue started in 2019 with Waqf board staking claim over the land citing that it was Waqf land that was donated to Farook college in Kozhikode.

In 2022, they were told they cannot pay land tax on their property following which the Kerala government intervened to allow them to pay tax. However, the high court stayed the government order allowing the families to pay the tax, while hearing a petition moved by the Waqf Samrashana Samithy (Waqf protection Forum). Now, the court passed an interim order allowing the residents to remit land tax on the disputed land.