A video of Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal has gone viral over the internet in which he can be seen claiming that the residence of global business tycoon and billionaire Mukesh Ambani has been built on a Waqf property. The clip was shared on Twitter by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha National Secretary Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga.
In the video, Kejriwal can be seen addressing an audience, and he says, “It is said that the residence of the richest person of this country, which is inside Mumbai, has been built on a waqf property. I’m not saying wrong, right? The government of Mumbai can’t do anything about that. Had it been our government, we would have demolished the construction.”
अम्बानी का घर भी वक़्फ़ बोर्ड की प्रॉपर्टी हैं , हमारी सरकार होती अम्बानी का घर तुड़वा देती । pic.twitter.com/BO3sWVnZ4C
— Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga (@TajinderBagga) September 27, 2022
In the clip, Arvind Kejriwal further claimed that Aam Aadmi Party is in full support of the Waqf Board and will stand with the Board wherever they need any help. The video has garnered widespread attention and users on the internet have slammed Kejriwal for making such remarks.
The actual video dates back to 2019 when Kejriwal went to a conference held by Waqf Board at Aiwan-E-Ghalib in Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal claimed in his address at the event that Delhi Government will bear the construction of schools and hospitals on land held by the Waqf Board. The conference was also attended by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, who was recently arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau in a corruption case concerning the Waqf Board.
Speaking at the conference, Arvind Kejriwal claimed that in the future, Waqf Board will be so rich that it will not require any funds from any other authority. The event was held before the Lok Sabha elections in 2019. Days after the meeting, Kejriwal approved an increase in the pay of Delhi’s imams and muezzins. The AAP president declared that the pay of imams at the 185 mosques in the national capital run by the Delhi Waqf Board would be raised from Rs 10,000 to Rs 18,000 per month, while muezzins’ salaries would be raised from Rs 9,000 to Rs 16,000 per month.
Is the house of Ambani built on Waqf property?
Although Arvind Kejriwal stated that the residence of Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani was built on Waqf property, the assertion appears to be inaccurate. The controversy centres on a 4,500-square-meter plot of land where the Currimbhoy Ebrahim Khoja Orphanage Trust formerly operated an orphanage to offer maintenance and education to impoverished and destitute children. The trust requested authorization from the Charity Commissioner to sell the land to Antilia Commercial Pvt Ltd (APCL) in 2002, which was approved in August of that year.
The ACPL and the Trust have maintained that the land came under the Charity Commissioner, not Waqf and that after the Charity Commissioner issued the authorization, Waqf had no role to play. However, upon learning of the transaction, the Waqf Board CEO sent a notice to both parties, which the orphanage Trust disputed. Later, the trust and the Board decided to resolve the dispute cordially, and the Board passed a resolution ratifying the deal on March 9, 2005.
According to sources, the Maharashtra State Waqf board declared in November 2017 that the sale of the land, which occurred around 2004-2005, was unlawful because it was Waqf property. In the meantime and following it, multiple suits were brought to the Bombay High Court. Later that month, in November 2017, the State Waqf Board filed an affidavit. The CEO of the Waqf Board said in the affidavit that the land transfer was unlawful since it was Waqf’s property.
Matters related to the case are right now pending before the Supreme Court with little information available regarding them in the public domain.
