IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) WEDNESDAY, THE THIRD DAY OF DECEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.17263 of 2006 Between: 1 Bilquis Bano, W/o. Jamshed Ali, R/o. H.no.12-1-548/2/2, Near Dargah Syed Aliguda, Hyderabad. 2 Jamshed Saheb(Jamshed Ali), S/o. Late Syed Ali, R/o. as above 3 Sardar Saheb(Mohd Sardar Khan), S/o. Late Sri Mohammed Mustafa Khan, R/o. H.no.12-1-601, Syed Aliguda, Hyderabad. ..... PETITIONERS AND 1 The Chief Executive Officer, A.P. Wakf Board, having office at Nampally Road, Hyderabad. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Hyderabad, Having Office at District Collector office Buliding, Nampally, Hyderabad. 3 Syed Obaid Quadri, S/o. Syed Ahmed Quadri, R/o.H.No.12-2-37/1/A/36, Zeba Bagh, Asif Nagar, Hyderabad. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Affidavit filed herein the High Court will be pleased to pass an order, direction or a writ particularly in the nature of Writ of Mandamus declaring that the impugned proceedings of respondent No.1 vide memo No.M5/95/prot/Hyd/020/Zone-1, dated 17-7-06, in violation of principles of natural justice, highly illegal, arbitrary in as much as the same is in violation of Mandatory provisions of Section 54(3) of Wakf Act,Consequently this Hon,ble court may be pleased to issue an interim direction staying all further proceedings of enroachment said to have been filed by the respondent No.1 against the petitioners as evident from his memo No.M5/95/Prot/Hyd/020/Zone-1, dated 17-7-06, now pending on the file of respondent No.2, and pass any other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioners:MR.MOHD.MOIN AHMED QUADRI Counsel for the Respondents: GP FOR REVENUE The Court made the following : THE HON'BLE SRI JUSTICE V.V.S.RAO WRIT PETITION No.17263 of 2006 ORDER: The three petitioners impugn the memo of the first respondent dated 17.07.2006, whereby and whereunder the Secretary of Managing Committee, Masjid-e-Quadira, was informed that eviction orders under Section 54(1) of the Wakf Act, 1995 (the Act, for brevity), have been passed against the petitioners, and the matter is referred to the Revenue Divisional Officer for removal of encroachment. Petitioners contend that they were not issued notice under Section 54(2) of the Act, and therefore, the order under Section 54(3) of the Act cannot be enforced against them. The Wakf Board in their counter affidavit does not dispute the fact that the order of eviction under Section 54(3) of the Act is passed against petitioner Nos.2 and 3. They contend that first petitioner is not at all concerned with the property belonging to Masjid-e-Quadira. This is a matter which cannot be gone into in the writ petition. It is no doubt true that the order passed under Section 54(3) of the Act has to be enforced/executed under Section 55 of the Act by the Revenue Divisional Officer. The Chief Executive Officer of Wakf Board has already addressed a letter on 02.12.2003, but it appears, action under Section 55 of the Act has not yet been taken. In that view of the matter and also having regard to Section 83(2) of the Act, this Court is not inclined to go into the merits of the case. As held by this Court in M.Bikshapathi v. Government of Andhra Pradesh[1] and Allauddin Charities and Zakath Wakf v. Hameed Ali[2] when there is an effective alternative remedy to challenge the order/proceedings of the Wakf Board made under the Act or rules made thereunder, a writ petition is not a remedy. Liberty is given to the petitioners to approach the State Wakf Tribunal within a period of four weeks. To enable them to obtain appropriate orders, there shall be status quo for a period of four weeks. The Writ Petition is disposed of accordingly. No costs. ____________ (V.V.S.RAO, J) 03.12.2008 Note: Issue C.C in one week. B/o. vs To 1 The Chief Executive Officer, A.P. Wakf Board, having office at Nampally Road, Hyderabad. 2 The Revenue Divisional Officer, Hyderabad, Having Office at District Collector office Buliding, Nampally, Hyderabad. 3 2CCs to G.P for Revenue, High Court of A.P., Hyderabad. 4 2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{BMR} [1] 1999 (6) ALD 270 (DB) [2] 2002 (1) ALD 67 (DB)