Tariq blamed in Waqf land scam
A judicial commission appointed by Maharashtra government has blamed Union minister of state for agriculture Tariq Anwar for the illegal transfer of waqf lands in the state. A senior Congress minister has confirmed this fact to this newspaper.
The commission, headed by former judge A.T.A.K. Sheikh, has submitted its report to the state government. The government is, however, yet to make the report public.
A major waqf board land scam was exposed in 2007. Almost 92,000 acres land belonging to the board across the state was illegally transferred to private builders and developers.
The then chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh appointed the A.T.A.K. Sheikh Committee in October 2007 under the Commission of Enquiry Act.
The Commission has submitted its report to the state officials and surrendered its office provided by state government.
The Congress minister confirmed that the commission has mentioned in its report about the role played by Anwar and former waqf board president late Abdul Aziz in the land transfers. Anwar was a member of joint committee of the wakf board in 1998-99.
According to the Central Waqf Act, any land belonging to the waqf board cannot be transferred or sold for commercial or residential purposes. However, Anwar and Aziz allowed transfers of several lands.
“Anwar used to preside over the meetings of waqf board in absence of Aziz. Though he allowed transfer of a small area of lands in his tenure, he cannot be spared as innocent,” the minister said.
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