The Waqf Act, 1995

This Act may be called the 1[Waqf] Act, 1995. (2) It extends to the whole of India 2***. (3) It shall come into force in a State on such date3as the Central Government may, by notification inthe Official Gazette, appoint; and different dates may be appointed for different areas within a State andfor different provisions of this Act, and any reference in any provision to the commencement of this Act,shall, in relation to any State or area therein, be construed as reference to the commencement of thatprovision in such State or area.]

Save as otherwise expressly provided under this Act, this Act shall applyto all 1[auqaf] whether created before or after the commencement of this Act: Provided that nothing in this Act shall apply to Durgah Khawaja Saheb, Ajmer to which the DurgahKhawaja Saheb Act, 1955 (36 of 1955) applies.

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-- (a) "beneficiary" means a person or object for whose benefit a 1[waqf] is created and includesreligious, pious and charitable objects and any other objects of public utility sanctioned by theMuslim law: (b) "benefit" does not include any benefit which a mutawalli is entitled to claim solely by reasonof his being such mutawalli; (c) "Board" means a Board of 1[Waqf] established under sub-section (1), or as the case may be,under sub-section (2) of section 13 and shall include a common 1[Waqf] Board establishedunder section 106; (d) "Chief Executive Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer appointed under sub-section (1)of section 23; (e) "Council" means the Central1[Waqf] Council established under section 9; 2[(ee) "encroacher" means any person or institution, public or private, occupying waqf property,in whole or part, without the authority of law and includes a person whose tenancy, lease or licencehas expired or has been terminated by mutawalli or the Board;] (f) "Executive Officer" means the Executive Officer appointed by the Board under sub-section (1)of section 38; 3[(g) "list of auqaf" means the list of auqaf published under sub-section (2) of section 5 orcontained in the register of auqaf maintained under section 37;] (h) "member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairperson; (i) "mutawalli" means any person appointed, either verbally or under any deed or instrument bywhich a 4[waqf] has been created, or by a competent authority, to be the mutawalli of a 4[waqf] andincludes any person who is a mutawalli of a 4[waqf] by virtue of any custom or who is anaib-mutawalli, khandim, mujawar, sajjadanashin, amin or other person appointed by a mutawallito perform the duties of a mutawalli and save as otherwise provided in this Act, any person,committee or corporation for the time being, managing or administering any4[waqf] or 4[waqf]property: Provided that no member of a committee or corporation shall be deemed to be a mutawalli unlesssuch member is an office-bearer of such committee or corporation: 5[Provided further that the mutawalli shall be a citizen of India and shall fulfil such otherqualifications as may be prescribed: Provided also that in case a waqf has specified any qualifications, such qualifications may beprovided in the rules as may be made by the State Government;] (j) "net annual income", in relation to a 5[waqf], means net annual income determined inaccordance with the provisions of the Explanations to sub-section (1) of section 72; (k) "person interested in a 4[waqf]" means any person who is entitled to receive any pecuniary orother benefits from the 4[waqf] and includes-- (i) any person who has a right to 6"offer prayer" or to perform any religious rite in a mosque,idgah, imambara,dargah, 7"khanqah, peerkhana and karbala], maqbara, graveyard or any otherreligious institution connected with the 4[waqf] or to participate in any religious or charitableinstitution under the 4[waqf]; (ii) the 8[waqif] and any descendant of the 8[waqif] and the mutawalli; (l) "prescribed", except in Chapter III, means prescribed by rules made by the State Governments; (m) "regulations" means the regulations made by the Board under this Act; (n) "Shia 4[waqf]" means a 4[waqf] governed by Shia Law; (o) "Sunni 4[waqf]" means a 4[waqf] governed by Sunni Law; (p) "Survey Commissioner" means the Survey Commissioner of 4[Waqf] appointed undersub-section (1) of section 4 and includes any Additional or Assistant Survey Commissioners of9[Auqaf] under sub-section (2) of section 4; (q) "Tribunal", in relation to any area, means the Tribunal constituted under sub-section (1) ofsection 83, having jurisdiction in relation to that area; 10[(r) "waqf" means the permanent dedication by any person, of any movable or immovableproperty for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable andincludes-- (i) a waqf by user but such waqf shall not cease to be a waqf by reason only of the userhaving ceased irrespective of the period of such cesser; (ii) a Shamlat Patti, Shamlat Deh, Jumla Malkkan or by any other name entered in a revenuerecord; (iii) "grants", including mashrat-ul-khidmat for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law aspious, religious or charitable; and (iv) a waqf-alal-aulad to the extent to which the property is dedicated for any purposerecognised by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable, provided when the line of successionfails, the income of the waqf shall be spent for education, development, welfare and such otherpurposes as recognised by Muslim law, and "waqif" means any person making such dedication;] (s) "11[waqf] deed" means any deed or instrument by which a 11[waqf] has been created andincludes any valid subsequent deed or instrument by which any of the terms of the original dedicationhave been varied; (t) 11[Waqf] Fund means a 11[waqf] fund formed under sub-section (1) of section 77.

4. Preliminary survey of 2[auqaf].--(1) The State Government may, by notification in the OfficialGazette, appoint for the State a Survey Commissioner of 2[Auqaf] and as many Additional or AssistantSurvey Commissioners of 2[Auqaf] as may be necessary for the purpose of making a survey of 3[auqaf inthe State]. 4[(1A) Every State Government shall maintain a list of auqaf referred to in sub-section (1) and thesurvey of auqaf shall be completed within a period of one year from the date of commencement of theWakf (Amendment) Act, 2013 (27 of 2013), in case such survey was not done before the commencementof the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2013: Provided that where no Survey Commissioner of Waqf has been appointed, a Survey Commissionerfor auqaf shall be appointed within three months from the date of such commencement.] (2) All Additional and Assistant Survey Commissioner of 2[Auqaf] shall perform their functionsunder this Act under the general supervision and control of the Survey Commissioner of 2[Auqaf]. (3) The Survey Commissioner shall, after making such inquiry as he may consider necessary, submithis report, in respect of 2[auqaf] existing at the date of the commencement of this Act in the State or anypart thereof, to the State Government containing the following particulars, namely:-- (a) the number of 2[auqaf] in the State showing the Shia 2[auqaf] and Sunni 2[auqaf] separately; (b) the nature and objects of each 1[waqf]; (c) the gross income of the property comprised in each 1[waqf]; (d) the amount of land revenue, cesses, rates and taxes payable in respect of each 1[waqf]; (e) the expenses incurred in the realisation of the income and the pay or other remuneration of themutawalli of each 1[waqf]; and (f) such other particulars relating to each 1[waqf] as may be prescribed. (4) The Survey Commissioner shall, while making any inquiry, have the same powers as are vested ina civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) in respect of the following matters,namely:-- (a) summoning and examining any witness; (b) requiring the discovery and production of any document; (c) requisitioning any public record from any court or office; (d) issuing commissions for the examination of any witness or accounts; (e) making any local inspection or local investigation; (f) such other matters as may be prescribed. (5) If, during any such inquiry, any dispute arises as to whether a particular 1[waqf] is a Shia5[waqf] or Sunni 5[waqf] and there are clear indications in the deed of5[waqf] as to its nature, the disputeshall be decided on the basis of such deed. (6) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct the SurveyCommissioner to make a second or subsequent survey of 5[waqf] properties in the State and theprovisions of sub-sections (2), (3), (4) and (5) shall apply to such survey as they apply to a surveydirected under sub-section (1): Provided that no such second or subsequent survey shall be made until the expiry of a period of6[ten years] from the date on which the report in relation to the immediately previous survey wassubmitted under sub-section (3): 7[Provided further that the waqf properties already notified shall not be reviewed again in subsequentsurvey except where the status of such property has been changed in accordance with the provisions ofany law.]

5. Publication of list of 1[auqaf].--(1) On receipt of a report under sub-section (3) of section 4, theState Government shall forward a copy of the same to the Board. (2) The Board shall examine the report forwarded to it under sub-section (1) and 2[fordward it back tothe Government within a period of six months for publication in the Official Gazette] a list of Sunni1[auqaf] or Shia 1[auqaf] in the State, whether in existence at the commencement of this Act or cominginto existence thereafter, to which the report relates, and containing such other particulars as may beprescribed. 3[(3) The revenue authorities shall-- (i) include the list of auqaf referred to in sub-section (2), while updating the land records; and (ii) take into consideration the list of auqaf referred to in sub-section (2), while deciding mutationin the land records. (4) The State Government shall maintain a record of the lists published under sub-section (2) fromtime to time.]