New Delhi: The meetings of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Wakf Amendment Bill have become a hotbed of claims and counter-claims as several government bodies in the country have accused the wakf boards of encroaching their properties. The ASI has also accused them of unauthorised construction. Apart from the Railway Board, the Ministry of Urban Affairs and Road Transport has also levelled similar allegations against various wakf boards.

These ministries have supported the proposed amendments in the existing law relating to Waqf properties. On the other hand, counter-claims have also started being made regarding these. Opposition members in the committee have claimed that in fact a large number of Waqf properties are in unauthorized possession of government bodies including the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Owaisi gave a list of 172 Waqf properties

Sources said that in the meetings, on behalf of the opposition, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi submitted a list of 172 Waqf properties in Delhi only, which according to him are in unauthorized occupation of ASI.

The committee is conducting meetings 

Their list, presented to the committee chairman and BJP MP Jagdambika Pal, comes after the ASI claimed that more than 120 of its protected monuments were being claimed by various Waqf boards. The committee is holding regular day-long meetings to listen to all stakeholders and meet the deadline of completing its recommendations by the first week of the winter session of Parliament.