Top officials face tough questions from members at Waqf panel meet

New Delhi: Top government officials on Thursday faced some tough questions from lawmakers at the parliamentary panel meeting to examine the Waqf Amendment Bill, with opposition members contending that ministries were not taking an independent view on the draft legislation and merely following the official line, according to sources.

The Joint Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill was on Thursday apprised of the Waqf properties in the National Capital Region and those on the land parcels belonging to the ministries of road transport and railways.

Urban Affairs and Road Transport Secretary Anurag Jain, Chairman of Railway Board Satish Gautam, Member Infrastructure, Railway Board, Anil Kumar Khandelwal and officials from the respective ministries made presentations to the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

The meeting also witnessed some heated discussions between members of the BJP and the opposition, including Kalyan Banerjee (TMC) and Sanjay Singh (AAP), prompting committee chairman Jagadambika Pal to intervene.

The ministries argued that the Waqf Amendment Bill would help them remove encroachment on government lands and carry out development projects faster.

Opposition members contended that the existing laws have provisions to challenge if a property was incorrectly notified as waqf, while the government is attempting to convey that no questions must be asked if it makes a claim on such property.

"The three ministries merely endorsed the Union government's position without any application of mind," an opposition member said.

The officials of the urban affairs ministry briefed the panel on the land acquisition process undertaken by the then-British government in 1911 to build the city of Delhi.

Parliamentary sources said there were heated moments during the meeting when the officials of the urban affairs ministry were unable to respond to questions from members on the land acquisition process undertaken by the British administration.

"There were also attempts to suppress certain information," claimed an opposition member of the committee chaired by BJP member Jagadambika Pal.

Parliamentary sources said DMK member A Raja pointed out that a Waqf Act was passed in 1913 and there was no mention of it in the presentation by the urban affairs ministry about it.

According to the presentation by the ministry, the Waqf Board made claims between 1970 and 1977 on 138 properties that were acquired for building New Delhi by the British government.

A total of 341 sq km of land was acquired to build the National Capital Region and due compensation was paid to the affected persons, a claim that was contested by the members.

The members also wanted the government to ascertain whether the claims by the Waqf Board on properties in Delhi were made after following the due process laid down in the Waqf Act of 1954.