A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday stayed a single bench order quashing the state government appointing a commission of inquiry headed by former High Court Judge C N Ramachandran Nair to find a” permanent solution” on the dispute between residents of Munambam and the Waqf Board.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice S Manu, passed the interim order while admitting an appeal filed by the state government against the single bench order.
“The appeals are admitted. List the appeals for hearing on daily board from June 16, 2025. During the pendency of these appeals, the operation and implementation of the judgment dated March 17,2025 is stayed. The report submitted by the commission will not be acted upon by the state government without seeking leave of this court in view of these appeals,” the court said.
A single bench of Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas on March 17 had ruled that the state government had no authority to appoint a commission to probe matters already governed by the Waqf Act.
The Kerala government on 27 November,2024 appointed former High Court Judge Justice CN Ramachandran Nair to head the inquiry commission to find a permanent solution with respect to the dispute between the residents of Munambam and the Waqf board.
Around 600 families of Munambam village in Ernakulam district have been protesting against the claims by the Waqf board on their land.
The Munambam issue started in 2019 with the Waqf board staking claim over the land of the residents citing that it is Waqf land which was donated to Farook college in Kozhikode.