PIL seeks inclusion of two non-Muslim members in Kerala State Waqf Board

Kochi: Shone George, the state vice-president of BJP, has filed a PIL before high court seeking a direction to the state govt to nominate the two mandatory non-Muslim members to the Kerala State Waqf Board in accordance with Section 41 of the Waqf Act, as amended in 2025.

He has further sought an interim order restraining the waqf board from functioning without the nomination of the two non-Muslim members. According to the petition, the Act, as amended in 2025, mandates that at least two members of the board, excluding ex officio members, must be non-Muslims in order to introduce secular oversight, professional diversity and financial accountability into the administration of public waqf. The petitioner contended that the state govt has deliberately flouted this statutory requirement by constituting a board comprising only Muslims.

The petition states that, through a GO dated Feb 4, 2026, the state govt appointed nine members, all of whom are Muslims, to the 11-member Board, while indicating that the remaining two members would be appointed subsequently. George has further contended that, in the absence of the mandatory non-Muslim members, the Kerala State Waqf Board lacks jurisdiction, rendering its administrative, supervisory and quasi-judicial decisions legally invalid from the outset.