The Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Kerala High Court's declaration that the Munambam property is not a Waqf land and ordered status quo till January 27.

A bench comprising Justice Manoj Misra and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, however, clarified that it has not stayed the observation of the High Court, which upheld the Kerala government's decision to appoint a one-member inquiry panel to examine the status and extent of a 404.76-acre property in Ernakulam district.

The Court passed the interim order while issuing notice on a Special Leave Petition filed by the Kerala Waqf Samrakshana Vedi against the High Court's verdict.

Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the High Court's observations regarding the validity of the Waqf deed were unwarranted as it was not the issue involved. The writ petition challenged only the state's constitution of the inquiry commission and the issues related to the validity of the Waqf deed, and the nature of the land is exclusively within the domain of the Waqf Tribunal.

 He also pointed out that proceedings are pending before the Waqf Tribunal challenging the notification of the land as Waqf. Hence, Ahmadi argued, the High Court erred in entering into those questions.

However, the Kerala government's counsel pointed out that the inquiry commission has already submitted its report to the government.
(With LiveLaw inputs)