By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 25 Oct: Despite continued resistance by the Waqf Board, the State Information Commission has made it clear that all the Waqf Board properties in the state, including the famous Piran Kaliyar Dargah, come under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
This ruling has been given by State Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt.
It may be recalled that there are over 2200 Waqf properties worth billions of rupees in the state, that are registered with the Uttarakhand Waqf Board. Under the Waqf Act-1995 (Amended 2013), these are under the control of Uttarakhand Waqf Board. However, in reality, there has been no transparent system in place to govern these properties. The control of the Waqf properties officially rests with the Uttarakhand Waqf Board which is a government body, but there has been a strong opposition within the Board and within the property managers to bring these properties under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Some feeble attempts were made earlier in this regard, but the RTI could never be implemented in the Waqf Board. As a result, there was no public information officer deputed in the properties and there was a total lack of transparency in the functioning.
When this matter reached the Information Commission, State Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt not only expressed deep displeasure at this situation, but also ruled that Waqf management cannot refuse to provide information. He also questioned the role of the Waqf Board in this regard. During a hearing in this regard, Bhatt explained in detail why there is no valid ground to not implement the RTI act with respect to the management of these properties. In his judgement, Bhatt has ordered all Waqf properties in the state including the Piran Kaliyar shrine in district Haridwar to be brought under the purview of the RTI Act.
The issue of exclusion of Waqf properties from the Right to Information Act came to light through the RTI application of advocate Danish Siddiqui, resident of Nagar Panchayat, Piran Kaliyar. He had sought information about various works of Piran Kaliyar Dargah from the Uttarakhand Waqf Board in July 2022. In response, he was told that there is no public authority in Piran Kaliyar, hence information cannot be given in this regard. When information was not received even from the first departmental appellate officer level, the matter reached the Information Commission.
While hearing the appeal, State Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt had sought the reply of the Waqf Board officials and asked them to clarify the facts like Waqf Act and control over Waqf properties. After which it was made clear by the Board that all the Waqf properties are under the control of the Board and the Chief Executive Officer of the Board can inspect, examine or get the documents related to any Waqf property, it was implied by the Information Commission that for the purpose of RTI, all Waqf properties operated under the government and therefore fell under the purview of the RTI Act,
Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt had also sought answers from the former and present Chief Executive Officer in the matter. Orders were also given to bring the management of Piran Kaliyar Dargah under the purview of RTI Act. Now, a Public Information Officer has been deployed here. Orders have also been issued to implement RTI Act in all other Waqf properties also. The Commission has directed that a manual should be prepared under Section 4 of the Right to Information Act within six months.
Information Commissioner Yogesh Bhatt directed the Uttarakhand Waqf Board to immediately make legal arrangements to provide information directly through the Waqf management concerned or the board. Apart from this, a copy of the order has also been sent to the Minority Welfare Department as well as the General Administration Department for information and further necessary action.
