KOZHIKODE: A petition has been filed before the Waqf Tribunal seeking the immediate appointment of a commission of lawyers to survey and assess the land related to the Munambam Waqf case. NM Irshad Sait, a relative of Siddique Sait, who gave the land to Farook College, filed the petition before the three-member Waqf Tribunal comprising Waqf Judge Rajan Thattil. The petition will be considered again on the 21st, when the case will be considered again.

The petition filed by the Farook College management is seeking to quash the board's 2019 order declaring the land as waqf land and the subsequent second order to include the land in the waqf register. While the arguments related to this were being heard, one of the opposing parties, NM Irshad Sait, son of Noor Muhammad Sait of Kochi Chullikkal, filed the petition through Adv. V. Anas. The demand is to examine how much property exists, how much land has been taken, how much land is in the possession of Farook College, etc. The petition also states that it is necessary to find out whether the people living on the land are Kudikidappukarans or illegal residents.

The hearing yesterday was on the issue of what issues under the Muhammadan Law prior to that date would affect the case since Munambam was a waqf of 1950. Arguments were also heard on which law would be applicable to the title deed relating to the Munambam land. Advocate KM Muhammad Iqbal, appearing for the board, argued that the Waqf Board voluntarily declared the Munambam land as a waqf because the mutawalli, Farook College, had not registered it with the Board as a waqf. The board argued that even if the power of purchase and sale is mentioned in the title deed, it cannot be sold without the permission of the Waqf Board as per the Waqf Amendment.