A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that it has not stayed the direction of the High Court upholding the government order appointing an inquiry commission to ascertain ownership of the disputed area. File
| Photo Credit: The Hindu
The Supreme Court on Friday (December 12, 2025) stayed a Kerala High Court order which struck down the registration of the contentious Munambam holding as a Waqf property, and ordered status quo over the disputed property.
A Bench of Justices Manoj Misra and Ujjal Bhuyan clarified that it has not stayed the direction of the High Court upholding the government order appointing an inquiry commission to ascertain ownership of the disputed area.
The order was passed in a petition filed by Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedhi challenging the High Court order.
The apex court issued a notice to the Kerala government and sought its response on the plea filed by the Vedhi challenging the October 10 order of the High Court on the 404-acre property in Munambam.
The organisation has contended that the order of the Division Bench violated the doctrine of statutory finality by rendering its findings on the validity of the Waqf declaration, a matter that was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal.
The Vedhi has contended that the Division Bench transgressed its jurisdiction and passed a declaration on the property, which is a registered waqf, in a writ petition after bypassing the statutory procedures, especially when the issue was pending before the Waqf Tribunal.
Moreover, it argued, the issue whether the Munambam property was a waqf or not was not even the subject matter of the proceedings.
The State government had appointed a commission headed by former acting Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, Justice C.N. Ramachandran Nair, in November last year to ascertain land ownership in the disputed area.
Published – December 12, 2025 11:08 pm IST
