Andhra Pradesh High Court Bars Waqf Tribunal from Reopening 45-Year-Old Land Dispute

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has ruled that the Waqf Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertain a 2024 suit challenging a land parcel, already adjudicated as non-Waqf property by a civil court in 1978. 

The court cited Section 7(5) of the Waqf Act, 1995, stating that once a civil court has decided an issue before the Act’s commencement, the Tribunal cannot reopen it. 

The case arose when the Mutavalli of the Darvesh Takia Masjid filed a declaration suit over land that had been conclusively declared non-Waqf in 1978.

The High Court held that allowing the suit would violate res judicata and issued a writ of prohibition against the Tribunal.