NEW DELHI: The meeting of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, on Monday witnessed tense moments as AAP member Sanjay Singh is learnt to have objected to the examination of Delhi Waqf Board administrator Ashwini Kumar, contending that the report submitted by him was not approved by the Delhi chief minister.
According to sources, Kumar’s report, submitted to the JPC on Saturday, is learnt to have supported the proposed amendments — ranging from appointment of a non-Muslim as CEO of Waqf Boards to restricting the powers of tribunals by proposing to remove the provision that its “decision is final”. The report also welcomed the proposed amendment to empower district magistrates to conduct survey of properties to be declared as waqf.
Sources said as soon as the report of the Delhi Waqf Board administrator came up for discussion, heated exchanges ensued between BJP and opposition members, leading to a walkout, for a brief period, by Singh, Congress members Naseer Hussain and Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi, SP member Mohibbullah, DMK’s Mohamed Abdulla and TMC’s Mohammad Nadim-ul Haque.
As opposition members persisted with their objections, panel chairman Jagdambika Pal decided to seek the opinion of the Lok Sabha secretary general on the matter. Meanwhile, members of BJP and opposition parties engaged in verbal clashes at the meeting. This was the first sitting of the JPC after TMC member Kalyan Banerjee’s suspension for unruly conduct.