SC rules only active Muslim Bar council members eligible for Waqf board posts
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a Muslim member of a state bar council loses eligibility to serve on the state Waqf Board once they no longer hold their position in the bar council.
The bench, consisting of Justices M.M. Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal, addressed the question of whether an individual who ceases to be a Muslim member of a bar council can continue as a member of the Waqf Board.
Setting aside the judgement of a division bench of the Manipur High Court, the top court said, “There are twin conditions to be eligible to be a Member of the Board: (1) The candidate must be from the Muslim community and (2) must hold an active position as a Member of Parliament, State Legislative Assembly, or Bar Council. If a person no longer fulfills these conditions, they cannot continue to hold the Board position (sic).” The case related to an appeal of one Md Firoz Ahmad Khalid, who was appointed a member of the Manipur Waqf Board in February 2023 following his election to the Manipur Bar Council.
He was appointed to the Manipur Waqf Board in February 2023 after his election to the state bar council, replacing a previous member who lost their position following the December 2022 bar council elections.
While a single judge of the Manipur High Court upheld Khalid's appointment, the division bench later overturned this decision, arguing that the law did not explicitly mandate a bar council member to vacate their Waqf Board position upon losing their bar council membership.
Justice M.M. Sundresh, however, disagreed with the division bench's ruling in a detailed 25-page judgement, emphasising that the eligibility for Waqf Board membership is directly tied to active bar council membership.
The judgement clarified that an ex-member of the bar council can be considered for Waqf Board membership only if there are no serving Muslim members in the bar council at present — a special exception under the second proviso to Section 14(2) of the Waqf Act.
As a result, the bench reinstated the single judge's decision, upholding Khalid's appointment as a member of the state Waqf Board.
“We also note that presently, the appellant is the only Muslim member in the bar council concerned – a fact that has been rightly taken note of by the state of Manipur while appointing him as a member of the board. In any case, there is no dispute with respect to the appellant's eligibility to be a member of the board by virtue of his membership in the bar council,” it said.
(inputs from PTI)
