AAP leader Amanatullah Khan was unanimously elected as the chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board on Thursday, officials said.
The Okhla MLA returned as the chairman of the board for the third time in a row after stepping down from the post in March due to the dissolution of the Delhi Assembly.
"Khan was elected unanimously by the six members of the Waqf Board present at the meeting. One member, Pervez Hashmi, was not present," a senior Delhi government officer said.
Khan said his priority will be to put the affairs of the board back on track, including addressing the issue of pending salaries of employees, imams and moazzins of mosques for months.
The functioning of the board, including payment of salaries, disbursal of various types of pensions and other administrative and financial matters, has been affected due to the absence of a chairman for nearly eight months.
The employees of the board even went on a strike demanding salaries.
"I will try to resolve all the issues, including the pending salaries and other grievances of the staff and other stakeholders, within a week," Khan told reporters after his election.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader was elected as a member (MLA) of the Waqf Board in September.
A meeting of the board members in October to elect a new chairman was deferred till November 19, after the high court asked the AAP government how could it allow Khan to become the chairperson of the panel when a special audit was initiated to look into allegations of irregularities against him.
The audit was ordered into the alleged irregularities committed at the board from March 2016 to March 2020, officials said.
Khan has previously served as the chairman of the board for around six months in 2016 and again from September 2018 to March 2020.
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