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Habib Alladin & Ors. v. Mohammed Ahmed

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 90Decided 28 Jan 2026
Civil Appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 2937 of 2022
Justice Sanjay Kumar · Justice K. Vinod Chandran

Background

A dispute arose over whether an area enclosed as a Mosque inside a privately-built apartment complex was validly protected under wakf law. The respondent sued in the Wakf Tribunal for an injunction protecting worshippers' access; the appellants argued the property was never notified or registered as wakf property, so the Tribunal had no jurisdiction.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court re-affirmed the narrower view of Waqf Tribunal jurisdiction (from Ramesh Gobindram v. Sugra Humayun Mirza Wakf, 2010) over a later, broader ruling. The Tribunal can only decide whether a property is "wakf" if it is already in the official list of Auqaf. Since the mosque was never notified or registered as wakf property, the Tribunal had no jurisdiction even over a simple injunction suit.

Lesson Learnt

A citizen cannot go straight to the special Waqf Tribunal to protect religious-use rights unless the property is already officially registered as wakf, otherwise the correct forum is the ordinary Civil Court.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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