Deciding Authority: Supreme Court of India
Name of the Judges: Justice G.S. Singhvi, Justice Asok Kumar Ganguly
Date of Judgment: 9 November 2010
Facts of the Case: Rai Sahib Kedar Nath, who retired as District Judge from the Punjab Judicial Service started three schools in Kucha Ghasi Ram, Chandni Chowk, Bazar Sita Ram and Daryaganj, Delhi between 1912 and 1916 in the memory of his father, Lala Ramjas Mal. He purchased land measuring about 1800 bighas in villages Chowkri Mubarikabad and Sadhora Khurd, which now form part of NCR Delhi from his own resources and by collecting money in the form of donations from other philanthropists. In a public function held on 25.12.1916 in Ramjas School, he had created a Wakf and dedicated and donated all his movable and immovable properties including the land in villages Chowki Mubarikabad and Sadhora Khurd to the said school for charitable purposes, namely, advancement and promotion of education to the public and poor students. In 1917, he formed Ramjas College Society and got the same registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 as a charitable institution. After some time, Rai Sahib Kedar Nath formed a managing committee of which he was the President. On 25.6.1936, he transferred the entire land to the Society by executing a release deed. In 1967, the name of the Society was changed to Ramjas Foundation and the same was registered as such. By notification dated 13.11.1959 issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894 (for short, `the Act’), the Chief Commissioner of Delhi proposed acquisition of 34070 acres land including 872 bighas and 17 biswas land of appellant No.1 situated at Chowkri Mubarikabad and 730 bighas land situated at Sadhora Khurd for planned development of Delhi. The acquisition of land vide notification dated 13.11.1959 was challenged in large number of petitions filed in Delhi High Court which were dismissed. The appeals filed against the orders of the Delhi High Court were dismissed by this Court in Aflatoon v. Lt. Governor of Delhi (1975) 4 SCC 285 and Lila Ram v. Union of India (1975) 2 SCC 547.
Judgment: The appeal deserved to be dismissed because the appellants had not approached the Court with clean hands. In Ramjas Foundation v. Union of India, acquisition of the land situated at Sadhora Khurd was challenged on the ground of violation of Section 5-A of the Act and also on the ground that land in question is exempted from acquisition because it is a Wakf property. Another plea taken by appellant No.1 was that if the land belonging to educational and charitable institutions established by Hindus and non-Muslims is not treated as Wakf property, then the exemption clause (d) is liable to be declared void for violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. The principle that a person who does not come to the Court with clean hands is not entitled to be heard on the merits of his grievance and, in any case, such person is not entitled to any relief is applicable not only to the petitions filed under Articles 32, 226 and 136 of the Constitution but also to the cases instituted in others courts and judicial forums. The object underlying the principle is that every Court is not only entitled but is duty bound to protect itself from unscrupulous litigants who do not have any respect for truth and who try to pollute the stream of justice by resorting to falsehood or by making misstatement or by suppressing facts which have bearing on adjudication of the issue(s) arising in the case. The appellants were not entitled to any relief because despite strong indictment by this Court in Ramjas Foundation v. Union of India, they deliberately refrained from mentioning details of the cases instituted by them in respect of the land situated at Sadhora Khurd and rejection of their claim for exemption under clause (d) of notification dated 13.11.1959 by the High Court and this Court. The evidence produced before the learned Single Judge showed that even after the so called dedication of land for charitable purposes, the same continued in the name of Rai Sahib Kedar Nath till 1936 when he executed the release deed in favour of the Trust of which he himself was the founder trustee apart from being the Manager of the school and the President of the Society. The hawan ceremony performed by Rai Sahib Kedar Nath which was preceded by Samarpan and Sankalp also showed that he did not intend to create a Wakf. This was the reason why the objects of Ramjas College Society formed in 1917 do not make a mention of the Wakf allegedly created by Rai Sahib Kedar Nath. In the deed of settlement executed by the British Government, the institution was described as a public educational charity and not as a Wakf. Therefore, the concurrent finding recorded by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench that what was created by Rai Sahib Kedar Nath was a public charitable trust and not a Wakf and the property acquired vide notification dated 13.11.1959 was not a Wakf property does not call for interference.
Ratio: The institution of Wakf owes its origin to a rule laid down by the prophet of Islam. It meant “the tying up of property in the ownership of God the Almighty and the devotion of the profits for the benefit of human beings. When once it is declared that a particular property is Wakf, or any such expression is used as implies Wakf, or the tenor of the document shows, if there is a wakf-nama that a dedication to pious or charitable purpose is meant, the right of Wakif is extinguished and the ownership is transferred to the Almighty. A non-Muslim can also create a Wakf for any purpose which is religious under the Mohammedan Law. However, the object of the Wakf must be lawful according to the religious creed of the maker as well.
Decision: The appeal was dismissed. The Court would have saddled the appellants with exemplary costs but keeping in view the fact that they are running educational institutions for benefit of the community, it refrained from passing an order to that effect and left the parties to bear their own costs. However, it was made clear that henceforth the respondents shall be free to use the acquired land for the purpose of planned development of Delhi and the appellant shall not be entitled to obstruct the proceedings which may be taken by the respondents for utilization of land for the purpose for which it was acquired or for any other public purpose.
By: Roopali Mohan, 2nd Year, Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, New Delhi