‘Next, you’ll claim Taj Mahal as Waqf property’: MP High Court slams Waqf Board, dismisses their claims over historic Burhanpur Fort

On Tuesday, 6th August, the Madhya Pradesh High Court overturned a decision by the MP Waqf Board that claimed the Burhanpur Fort as Waqf ownership. The Waqf Board claimed that the Tomb of Shah Shuja, the Tomb of Nadir Shah, Bibi Sahib’s Masjid, and the palace located in the Fort of Burhanpur were Waqf property. Significant Courtroom Decision: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has nullified an order by the MP Waqf Board, which declared the Tomb of Shah Shuja, Tomb of Nadir Shah, Bibi Sahib’s Masjid, and the palace within the Burhanpur Fort as Waqf property. It stated that once a property was declared an ancient monument and protected monument, it could not be said to be an existing Waqf property on the date of the Waqf Act, 1995; thus, even if a notification had been sent declaring it to be a Waqf property, it would not consequently nullify the notifications issued under the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. “An erroneous notification issued in respect of property which is not an existing Waqf property on the date of commencement of Waqf Act, would not make it a Waqf property thereby giving jurisdiction to the Waqf Board to seek eviction of the Central Government from ancient and protected monuments,” the high court held.