Wakf Board claims 323-acre prime land

HYDERABAD: The AP State Wakf Board (APSWB) on Monday passed a resolution to claim 323 acre and 18 guntas of land in Jubilee Hills as wakf property belonging to Hazrath Hakeem Shahe Baba Dargah.
The prime land claimed by the board covers localities in Jubilee Hills, Hakimpet, Tolichowki and Mehdipatnam. "Apollo Hospital land and parts of Film Nagar are located on the land that is being claimed as Wakf property," said APSWB member Syed Altaf Hyder Razvi.
The government gazette of 1982, however, says that the extent of land belonging to the Dargah is only 4,448 square metres. But the Wakf Board obtained the 'original muntakhab', through which the land had been endowed to the Dargah, from the State Archives and Research Institute. It terms the extent of land as 323 acre and 18 guntas spread on two survey numbers -- 92 and 102.
"The AP Gazette had erroneously published the extent of land in 1982. Old documents pertaining to the Dargah such as the muntakhab (number 786/4) issued around 114 years ago were obtained from the AP State Archives and Research Institute. These documents show that the attached dargah and serai measure 323 acres and 18 guntas," said board chairman Syed Ghulam Afzal Biyabani.
The market value of the land being claimed runs into thousands of crores and is mostly under 'encroachment' by private persons and institutions.
The board said that errata can be issued under section 40 of the Wakf Act (1995). The prerequisite to passing such a notification is that the board should possess information that gives it reason to believe that a property is wakf. "The errata notification will be given to the government press and then the gazette will be published. This will give us solid ground to fight for these land parcels. We are legally strong now," Razvi said.
The prime land claimed by the board covers localities in Jubilee Hills, Hakimpet, Tolichowki and Mehdipatnam. The market value of the land being claimed runs into thousands of crores.