KOCHI: Observing that the disputed property in Munambam has been declared waqf land under the Waqf Act, the Kerala High Court on Monday questioned the authority of the state government to intervene in the matter.

“Unless and until the Waqf Board’s order is varied or modified by the Waqf Tribunal, the statutes say that the finding of the Waqf Board is final. There is already a statutory declaration that it is a waqf property,” said Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas.

The court asked whether the government could appoint a commission to inquire into the land issue when there was a judicial finding that it was Waqf land. “Where is the government’s authority to consider a question regarding a Waqf property,” the court asked.

The HC further said: “Can a Commission of Inquiry be appointed in the matter which is pending before the tribunal? The public importance which had prompted the government to appoint the commission had not been mentioned in the order. There is an apparent absence of public importance in the appointment of the commission.”

The court noted that the Waqf Board and a civil court had found the land was Waqf property. Citing the commission’s terms of reference, which say that it was appointed to protect the interest of the bona fide occupants of the land, the court observed orally that the government could not legally term them bona fide occupants.

“Some take the law into their own hands and the government calls them bona fide occupiers. It was a private dispute between the occupiers of the land and the persons to whom it originally belonged,” the HC observed orally.