By TCN News,
Mumbai: The Maharashtra Wakf Board has reclaimed 120 acres of wakf land in Junnar, near Nashik, from Chateau Indage Group that would raise vineyards on the land and export wine. The land was illegally held by the Choughules of the group for over a decade since the lease ended.
“These 120 acres originally belonged to the Waqf Board. The board had made repeated complaints that the land was being used illegally by the Choughules to raise vineyards and export wine,” Maharashtra Minister of Minority Affairs Naseem Ahmed Khan has been quoted as saying.
The Wakf Board got support from the police when it issued eviction order to the company.
It is estimated that the Board’s Junnar land is worth around Rs 10 lakh an acre. The total value of the land reclaimed could thus be around Rs 12 crore.
It is estimated that the state wakf board has 92,000 acres of land in Maharashtra, of which 57,000 acres in Aurangabad itself. Wakf properties are normally used to build schools, madrasas, masjids and even houses for poor Muslims. The wakf properties are maintained by mutawallis. There are numerous cases wherein they failed to protect the properties by not being able to evict encroachers or by selling the properties themselves. This mismanagement results in wakf land going into illegal custody. About 60% of state wakf land is said to be in illegal custody. There are currently at least 7,000 wakf cases pending in courts across the state. Only 5% of the disputed lands have been restored to the Wakf Board. The board and the minority ministry have now drawn up plans to categorise and resolve these cases.