Idgah Maidan to be brought under Karnataka Revenue Department

Drawing an end to the recent Idgah Maidan ownership dispute, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Joint Commissioner (West) has passed an order declaring that the property will be brought under the ownership of the Karnataka Revenue Department.

However, the order specified that the land records with BBMP would be changed and this did not stop the Karnataka State Board of Wakf from claiming ownership. Any disputes should now be raised with the Karnataka State Revenue department, the order said.

According to sources, the Wakf Board had requested BBMP to provide khata for the property on June 21 based on a gazette notification. However, the BBMP had asked the board to furnish another set of seven documents for verification before it could issue the khata.

According to the order, the Wakf Board was given seven days to furnish the document. Since they failed to appear with the documents, the period was extended for another five days to appear before the BBMP with the relevant documents.

However, though the members of the board appeared before the BBMP on July 27 they requested additional time to furnish all the documents.

Finally, they were asked to reappear on August 3.

The board members only submitted the Supreme Court orders, which would not be sufficient, the order said. While pointing out that the Supreme Court order of 1964 only gave congregational rights to the Muslim community, it did not grant ownership rights and since the board had failed to provide the required documents to establish ownership, the BBMP has rejected their petitions.