Hon'ble Judges/Coram:
Markandey Katju and T.S. Thakur

JUDGMENT

T.S. Thakur, J.

1. These three appeals by special leave arise out of three different orders passed by the High Court of Andhra Pradesh whereby revision petitions filed by the Appellants against the orders of A.P. Wakf Tribunal have been dismissed and the orders of eviction passed by the Tribunal affirmed. Since the appeals raise a common question of law for our determination the same were heard together and shall stand disposed of by this common order. The question is whether the Wakf Tribunal constituted Under Section 83 of the Wakf Act, 1995 was competent to entertain and adjudicate upon disputes regarding eviction of the Appellants who are occupying different items of what are admittedly Wakf properties. The Wakf Tribunal before whom the suits for eviction of the tenants were filed answered the question regarding its jurisdiction in the affirmative and decreed the suit filed against the Appellant. Aggrieved by the said orders the Appellants filed revision petitions before the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, inter alia, contending that the Tribunal was in error in assuming jurisdiction and directing their eviction. Dismissal of the Revision Petitions by the High Court has led to the filing of the present appeals as already noticed above.

2. Whether or not the Wakf Tribunal can entertain and adjudicate upon a dispute regarding eviction of a tenant holding wakf property under the Wakf Board, would depend upon the scheme of the Wakf Act, 1995 and express or implied exclusion of the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts to entertain any such dispute. If the Act excludes the jurisdiction of the Civil Courts whether such exclusion is absolute and all pervasive or limited only to a particular class of disputes is also an incidental question that may have to be addressed. There is a cleavage in the judicial opinion expressed on these questions by different High Courts in the country. The High Court of Andhra Pradesh has in T. Shivalingam v. A.P. Wakf Tribunal, Hyderabad and Ors. MANU/AP/0400/1999 : 1999 (3) ALT 602, P. Rama Rao and Ors. v. High Court of Andhra Pradesh, rep. by Registrar (Vigilance) and Ors. MANU/AP/0061/2000 : 2000 (1) ALT 210, Jai Bharat Co-operative Housing Society Ltd. v. A.P. State Wakf Board, Hyderabad MANU/AP/0634/2000 : 2000 (5) ALD 743 and Syed Muneer v. Chief Executive Officer and 5 Ors. MANU/AP/0993/2001 : 2001 (4) ALD 430 taken the view that the Tribunal established Under Section 83 of the Wakf Act is competent to entertain and adjudicate upon all kinds of disputes so long as the same relate to any wakf property. So also the High Court of Rajasthan in Anjuman A. Burhani v. Daudi Bohra Jamaet, Registered Society and Anr. MANU/RH/0506/2009 : AIR 2009 Raj. 150 has taken th........