New Delhi. The Telangana High Court has rejected the petition of Hyderabad-based Telangana State Waqf Board claiming rights over the five star hotel Marriott. In this regard, the division bench of High Court Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anil Kumar Jukanti made strong remarks while issuing an injunction against the Waqf Board. The court said that initiating eviction proceedings by the Waqf Board is beyond its jurisdiction.
The issue came to light when petitioners Viceroy Hotels, now known as Marriott, challenged the actions of the State Waqf Board and sought to initiate proceedings under Section 54 of the Waqf Act of 1995. This case dates back to the year 1958 when the Waqf Board of Telangana conducted an investigation under the Waqf Act 1954, which determined on 5 October 1958 that the said property did not belong to the Waqf. However, even after this, many claims were made about it from time to time. In 1964, a person named Abdul Ghafoor filed a lawsuit claiming this property as the property of the Waqf Board. Despite legal challenges and court interventions, including a High Court order in 1968, the Waqf Board persisted in its claims.
Meanwhile, the Waqf Board initiated proceedings by issuing notice to the concerned property. The most recent action was taken in 2014. Despite previous court decisions and objections raised by the petitioners, the Waqf Board took action and staked its claim on the property. The petitioners, alarmed by a newspaper report indicating the Waqf Board’s intention to take action against them, responded to the case, highlighting previous judgments of the Court. However, despite this the Waqf Board proceeded with the legal proceedings, following which the present writ petitions were filed challenging the Waqf proceedings.