Yogi Adityanath govt announces dissolution of Shia, Sunni waqf boards in Uttar Pradesh, recommends CBI probe into alleged scam

Lucknow: Hours after ordering dissolution of Shia and Sunni waqf boards, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday night recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation into the alleged irregularities worth multi-crores committed by the two bodies in the state.

Talking to news agency PTI, Minister of State for Waqf Mohsin Raza said: “The Chief Minister recommended a CBI probe into alleged scam worth crores in Shia and Sunni waqf boards.”

Raza said scam worth crores has come to the fore in a probe by the Waqf Council of India.

Earlier in the day, the Uttar Pradesh government announced dissolving the Shia and Sunni waqf boards in the state in the wake of corruption charges against them.

Raza said that the dissolution process has begun after considering all legal aspects.

There have been serious allegations of corruption against the Shia and Sunni waqf boards related to their properties.

The role of the chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, Wasim Rizvi, as well as the minister for waqf in the previous Samajwadi Party government, Azam Khan, had come under scanner after the inquiry by the Waqf Council of India.

Barely a fortnight after the SP suffered a humiliating defeat in the state Assembly polls, a report by the fact- finding committee of the Central Waqf Council (CWC) indicted Khan -- one of the controversial ministers in the erstwhile Akhilesh Yadav government -- of corruption, mismanagement and misuse of office.

The fact-finding committee, constituted after the CWC received several complaints from UP, was headed by Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi, who is also the in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand waqf boards.

Raza had recently handed over separate reports of the Waqf Council with regard to the two boards to the Chief Minister.

The committee in its report elaborated on how Khan as minister allegedly misused his position to grab properties under the boards.

It said Khan made a trust -- Maulana Johar Ali Education Trust -- and diverted funds from waqf properties to it.

The report pointed out discrepancies in maintaining rent collection records on Waqf properties.

It recommended that the Uttar Pradesh Waqf Board be dissolved immediately and all accused officials be barred from entering waqf offices pending investigation.

Khan has, however, maintained that he was absolutely clean and the allegations against him were baseless.

(With PTI inputs)