A Christian trust has filed a public interest litigation challenging the Kerala State Waqf Board's composition and its decision to list 404 acres of Munambam coastal land on the UMEED portal. The petition argues the board is not compliant with the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, which requires non-Muslim representation, and raises concerns about the potential displacement of hundreds of families residing on the disputed property.
What Happened
The Assembly of Christian Trust Services (ACTS), a Christian charitable organization, has approached the Kerala High Court with a public interest litigation. The petition challenges the legal validity of the current Kerala State Waqf Board. The trust is contesting two main issues: the board's structural composition and its administrative decision to upload records of approximately 404 acres of land in Munambam village to the UMEED portal.
The Composition Dispute
At the heart of the legal challenge is the claim that the current Waqf Board does not meet the standards set by the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, which came into effect in April 2025. The Act introduced specific mandates regarding the inclusion of non-Muslim members in state Waqf boards to ensure broader representation.
ACTS argues that the state government has failed to appoint the legally required two non-Muslim members to the board. The petition claims that the board is currently composed entirely of Muslim members. The trust contends that this absence of the mandated representation makes the board's constitution legally flawed. According to the petition, this lack of statutory compliance undermines the board's administrative, supervisory, and judicial decisions.
The Munambam Land Issue
The litigation also focuses on a specific property dispute involving 404 acres of coastal land in Munambam. The Waqf Board has uploaded details of this land to the UMEED portal, a move that effectively classifies the area as Waqf property.
This decision has caused concern among the local population, as over 600 families—primarily from the Latin Catholic Christian and Hindu communities—reside on this land. Residents fear that this classification could lead to displacement or legal complications regarding their property rights. ACTS argues that a board lacking the required statutory composition cannot impartially or legally adjudicate such a sensitive property matter.
Legal Demands And Next Steps
The petitioner has asked the court to intervene in several ways. The trust is seeking a directive for the state government to issue a fresh notification to appoint new board members who meet the requirements of the 2025 Amendment Act. Furthermore, the petition requests the court to declare the upload of the Munambam land details to the UMEED portal as legally void.
As an interim measure, the trust has requested the court to suspend the functioning of the current board until a new, legally compliant body is constituted. The legal proceedings will now focus on whether the board’s current structure and its recent administrative actions align with the amended statutory framework.