The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Kerala High Court’s verdict declaring that the Munambam land in Ernakulam district was not waqf property.
While issuing notice in a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi challenging the high court verdict, which held that Munambam land is not a Waqf property under the Wakf Act, 1995, the Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan also ordered that that the current status of the land be maintained till the next date of hearing on January 27, 2026.
“…The present matter requires consideration…Issue notice returnable in the week commencing 27 January. In the meantime, the declaration in the impugned judgment that the property in question is not the subject matter of ‘Waqf’ shall remain stayed. The status quo regarding the same shall be maintained,” the court said.
The apex court clarified that while the high court’s declaration will remain stayed, the inquiry commission headed by former Judge Justice CN Ramachandran Nair can continue to function.
The Kerala High Court on October 10 held that the 1950 endowment deed executed by Mohammed Siddique Sait in favour of the Farooq College Managing Committee was not a waqf deed but a simple gift deed.
A Division Bench of Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Justice Syam Kumar VM said that the 1950 endowment deed did not fulfil the essential requirement of “permanent dedication” under the Wakf Act of 1923, the Wakf Act, 1954, or the Central Waqf Act, 1995,while allowing two writ appeals filed by the state government against a Single Bench order that had quashed a government notification constituting a Commission of Inquiry to resolve the Munambam land dispute between residents and the Waqf Board.
The Kerala Waqf Protection Forum challenged the Kerala High Court order in the Supreme Court arguing that the high court cannot interfere in the Munambam land issue while it is under the consideration of the Waqf tribunal.
Around 610 families of Munambam coastal Village in the Ernakulam district have been protesting against the claim by the Waqf board on their land. The Munambam 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 this,the Kerala government intervened and allowed them to pay tax.However, the Kerala High Court stayed the government order allowing the families to pay the tax, in a petition moved by the Waqf Samrashana Samithy (Waqf protection Forum).