Wakf board yet to get members even after 1 yr

Ahmedabad: It has been close to year since the Gujarat State Wakf Board (GSWB) dissolved the statutory body and the state government is yet to nominate new members to the crucial board.
The GSWB was dragged into controversy when a June notification from the state legal department demanded action against members responsible for approving “illegal” sale of 26 wakf properties in the state.
Interestingly, the wakf board was dissolved in January last year and there is no way the GSWB can now act as per the legal department notice. “A fresh board has to be elected before any action can be taken,” said a former senior GSWB member.
On June 26, the legal department, in a strongly worded letter to the GSWB, had demanded “punitive action” against those officials who “went beyond the purview of their jurisdiction” and were responsible for “approving illegal transfer of 26 wakf properties”.
The letter written by U M Bhatt, under secretary in the legal department, has instructed that all such properties that were allowed to be transferred be taken back by the GSWB and such transfers or sale of properties be deemed void. The 26 properties which were permitted by the GSWB to be sold or transferred in 2014-15 were in violation of the Wakf (Amendment) Act-2013 passed by the central government on November 1, 2013.