The Supreme Court on Thursday put on hold a key portion of a Kerala High Court judgment that had declared the 404.76-acre Munambam land not to be Waqf property.
A Bench of Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan directed that the situation on the ground must remain unchanged until January 27, 2026, while the Court examines the matter further.
However, the Bench made it clear that it had not stayed the High Court’s separate finding that the Kerala Government was within its powers to appoint a one-member Commission of Inquiry to examine the status and limits of the disputed land parcel.
The interim protection came while issuing notice on a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi, which has challenged the High Court’s ruling.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner along with AoR Abdulla Naseeh, argued that the High Court had strayed far beyond the scope of the writ petition.
He submitted that the challenge before the High Court was confined solely to the State’s decision to set up an inquiry commission. Questions relating to the validity of the 1950 deed, whether the land was Waqf property, and the nature and extent of the land.
were issues exclusively reserved for the Waqf Tribunal under Sections 7, 83 and 85 of the Waqf Act.
Ahmadi pointed out that proceedings before the Waqf Tribunal—challenging the Board’s 2019 notification treating the land as Waqf—are already underway. Despite this, the High Court, he said, went into the deed and concluded that it was a mere gift, not a Waqf.
“You go to the writ court only on the legality of the inquiry commission, but the Division Bench pronounces on the Waqf deed itself and concludes it is not Waqf at all,” Ahmadi argued.
Opposing the plea, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta for the State argued that the petitioner organisation had no direct connection with the dispute.
He emphasised that The muttawalli of the concerned Waqf had not challenged the inquiry commission. The petitioner had filed the matter as a public interest litigation, claiming representative interest. The Commission of Inquiry had already completed its exercise and submitted its report.
Gupta said the petitioner was an “outside party” attempting to reopen issues that those directly concerned had not raised.
Senior Advocate V. Chitambaresh, appearing for current residents of the land, submitted that many of the occupants are poor fishing families who were never heard before their properties—held for decades—were suddenly notified as Waqf in 2019.
Senior Advocate Maninder Singh, representing another group of residents, noted that a civil court had earlier held that the land was not Waqf property, adding further complexity to the dispute.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court repeatedly questioned whether the High Court should have embarked on determining the nature of the land when the statutory Tribunal was already seized of that issue.
Justice Misra observed that the petitioner was “left worse off” by the High Court judgment:
“If the writ petition was not maintainable, the Court could have stopped there. Why enter into issues neither argued nor necessary to decide? The High Court has gone beyond its remit.”
Justice Bhuyan echoed this concern, noting that no party had sought a ruling on the character of the land before the High Court.
Stating that the issues raised require deeper consideration, the Bench ordered issuance of notice, returnable in the week commencing January 27. Stay on the High Court’s finding that the Munambam property is not Waqf land. Status quo regarding the property to be maintained in the interim.
Background: A Dispute Rooted in a 1950 Deed
The Munambam land case revolves around a large 404.76-acre tract in Ernakulam district. The land was originally transferred in 1950 by Mohammed Sidhique Sait to the Farook College Managing Committee through a deed whose character—gift or Waqf—now lies at the heart of the controversy.
Over several decades, the College sold portions of the land to private individuals, many of whom built homes and settled in the area.
In 2019, the Kerala Waqf Board issued a notification declaring all land covered by the 1950 deed as Waqf property. This sparked strong opposition from residents and purchasers who argued that the land was never Waqf and that the classification threatened their long-established ownership.
The dispute since then has been unfolding simultaneously before civil courts, the Waqf Tribunal, and now the Supreme Court.
