New Delhi: The transfer of 123 prime properties to Delhi Wakf Board by the erstwhile UPA government in national capital has come under the scanner.
The NDA govt has now initiated an inquiry to find out if it was illegally transferred after a petition was filed in this regard by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in the Delhi High Court.
The VHP petition, filed on May 22 last year, cited the Section 48 of the Land Acquisition Act and said that the properties which have been acquired and vested in the government, after the possession of the same has been taken, cannot be denotified/released from acquisition.
Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu told The Indian Express that he has received a representation against former Union Minister, Salman Khurshid, that he was instrumental in the transfer of these properties.
“On the eve of his demitting office last year, he was instrumental in the transfer of these properties, keeping vote bank politics in mind,” he Union Minister said.
In January last year, when the UPA-II government was in power, the Urban Development Ministry had prepared a draft cabinet note to denotify the 123 properties, and to transfer the ownership rights to the Delhi Wakf Board. The transfer was finally done in March 2014, a night before the Model Code of Conduct came into effect before the general elections.
A senior official of the Urban Development Ministry said that the entire decision was taken in haste and that the Ministry has written to the Law Ministry seeking its opinion in the matter.
Most of the properties are in and around Connaught Place, Mathura Road, Lodhi Road, Mansingh Road, Pandara Road, Ashoka Road, Janpath, Parliament House, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazar, Daryaganj and Jangpura. While each property has a mosque, some have shops and residences.
Sixty-one of these properties are owned by the Land & Development Office, while the remaining are with the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Both these departments function under the Urban Development Ministry.
