NEW DELHI: The election of member-MLA for Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) has been deferred as the electoral roll couldn’t be finalised following an objection which was received by the office of divisional commissioner (revenue).
According to senior officials of the Delhi government privy to the matter a south Delhi resident had challenged the nomination of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan for the membership of the Board citing a corruption case lodged by the CBI against him in 2016.
“A decision in the matter may be taken in a day or two,” said an official. Shinde Deepak Arjun, deputy commissioner (DC) north district, also the returning officer for the election, confirmed that the election process couldn’t be completed in the absence of the election roll.
“Electoral roll is yet to be finalised by the concerned office. Until it is not done, scrutiny of the nomination can’t be undertaken,” he said. After the objection, the divisional commissioner has now sought an opinion from the legal department on the matter.
Only Khan who represents Okhla assembly seat had filed the nomination for the vacant post of member-MLA. The election was scheduled on Tuesday. If Khan’s nomination is found valid after scrutiny, he would be declared elected unopposed.
At present, there are five Muslims MLAs including Khan. The other members are Shoaib Iqbal (Matia Mahal), Imran Hussain (Ballimaran), Abdul Rehman (Seelampur), and Haji Yunus (Mustafabad).
“After the objection, we are following a legal process. We have taken advice from the law department. The objector had also filed a petition in the Delhi High Court,” said a senior official at the divisional commissioner office.
Mohd Tufail Khan, who claims to be a social worker, had moved a petition in the high court alleging that the government’s decision to nominate the AAP MLA to be elected as a member of the Board was “illegal, arbitrary and biased”. However, his petition was dismissed with a cost of Rs 25,000. After the election of member-MLA, all members of the panel elect among them the chairman.
The seven-member Waqf Board includes four elected members — an MLA, a current or former Member of Parliament, mutawalli (manager or custodian of a mosque) and a Bar Council member. The remaining three are nominated members, including a Delhi government officer, a social worker and a Muslim scholar.