Prayagraj (UP), May 30 (PTI) The Allahabad High Court has expressed surprise at the actions of the Waqf Madarsa Qasim ul Uloom in encroaching a land in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur that belongs to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), carrying out construction on it, sub-letting it and charging rent on the property.

Noting that the petitioner, Waqf, had encroached upon the land owned by the NHAI, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal dismissed the petition.

The court called it a “classic case” where the NHAI land was encroached upon and a madrasa, a mosque and certain other constructions were raised and the property was being claimed to be a “waqf”.

The petitioner had filed the plea seeking a permanent prohibitory injunction restraining the respondent authorities from demolishing the disputed property and making new construction over the same. The petitioner had submitted that a madrasa, a mosque and a police chowki existed on the land.

Regarding the petitioner’s claim that the land was a waqf property, the defendants had pleaded that the same was not registered as a waqf with the Waqf Board.

In the suit, the defendants had filed an amendment application that was allowed by the trial court. Against this, the petitioner had preferred a revision, which was dismissed. Thereafter, the petitioner approached the high court on grounds that the amendment could not be allowed as a new case was being set up by the defendants.

The court said the petitioner-plaintiff had not, at any stage, shown the registration of the waqf and how the suit property was a waqf under the Waqf Act, 1995.

Holding that the property belonged to the NHAI, the court dismissed the petition against the trial court order allowing the amendment application.

The order dated May 12 came into the public domain on Friday. PTI COR RAJ KIS RC