PATNA, India, March 8 -- Patna High Court issued the following judgment on Feb. 5:

1. Heard Mr. Rashid Izhar, learned counsel for the appellant and Mr. Md. Helal Ahmad representing the Bihar State Sunni Waqf Board (henceforth for short, 'the Waqf Board').

2. The present appeal has been preferred for the following relief(s):

"against the judgment and order, dated 08.07.2025 passed in Title Suit No. 02 of 2024 passed by the Chairman and Member of Bihar State Waqf Tribunal, Patna, whereby the Suit was dismissed at the stage of admission stage itself referring to the pendency of an Eviction Application No. 13 of 2020 earlier filed on behalf of the Defendant and filing of this suit may delay the Eviction Proceeding which is contrary to the law prescribed for dismissal of suit at admission stage and certified copy was received on 06.08.2025."

3. The claim of the appellant is that he is a tenant of the family members of Prayag Lal with whom the land was settled by Baldev Lal Tatwari. In the year 1945, the land owner gave 600 square feet of land from the eastern side for offering 'namaz' to a particular community. For the rest of the land, the ownership right continued with the family of the Prayag Lal and the appellant is/was under tenancy with the said family and also paying rent to their caretaker, Noor Khan and later to his son, Anwar Hussain till 2012 whereafter no one came forward to receive the rent.

4. The submission is that treating the entire land to be its own property, 'the Waqf Board' preferred Eviction Application No. 13 of 2020 against the appellant and expecting immediate eviction, he preferred Title Suit No. 02 of 2024 before the Bihar State Waqf Tribunal (henceforth for short 'the Tribunal').

5. It came to be dismissed on 08.07.2025 at the point of admission itself holding that when the Eviction Application No. 13 of 2020 is pending, after lapse of four-five years, filing of the Title Suit raises eyebrows and it will only delay the disposal of the Eviction Suit.

6. Aggrieved, the present appeal.

7. Learned counsel for the appellant has taken this Court to Section 54 of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 (henceforth for short 'the Act') relating to the removal of encroachment which read as follows:

54. Removal of encroachment from 1 [waqf] property.-(1) Whenever the Chief Executive Officer considers whether on receiving any complaint or on his own motion that there has been an encroachment on any land, building, space or other property which is 1 [waqf] property and, which has been registered as such under this Act, he shall cause to be served upon the encroacher a notice specifying the particulars of the encroachment and calling upon him to show cause before a date to be specified in such notice, as to why an order requiring him to remove the encroachment before the date so specified should not be made and shall also send a copy of such notice to the concerned mutawalli.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://patnahighcourt.gov.in/viewjudgment/MiM3NTgjMjAyNSMxI04=-BUsezrGLpCg=)

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