Centre notifies rules on portal, database, audit of Waqf properties
New Delhi (PTI): The Centre has notified the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Rules, 2025 that deal with issues such as the portal and database of Waqf properties, the manner of their registration, conduct of audit and maintenance of accounts.
The rules were notified on Thursday in exercise of powers under Section 108B of the 1995 Act, which was inserted through the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, which came into effect from April 8, 2025.
According to the rules, a portal and database is set up for the purposes of filing of details of Waqf, uploading the list of auqaf, registration of new Waqf, maintenance of register of auqaf and maintenance and submission of accounts of mutawalli of a Waqf, publication of audit report and proceedings and order board under Section 48 of the Act.
The joint secretary to the Government of India in the Ministry of Minority Affairs in-charge of the Waqf division shall be responsible for the supervision and control of the portal and database, the rules notified said.
The portal and database shall contain the details and fields referred to in the Act, monitoring and management of Waqf properties and related data, court cases, resolution of disputes and such other details and fields as are necessary for the filing of details of the Waqf and the property dedicated to it on the portal and database.
Every state government shall appoint an officer not below the rank of a joint secretary to that government as the nodal officer and shall establish a centralised support unit, in consultation with the central government for providing assistance in streamlining uploading of details of Waqf and properties thereof, registration, maintenance of accounts, audit and other related activities of the Waqf and the board, the rules stated.
The portal and database shall include features for real-time monitoring of registration of new Waqf and filing details of the Waqf and properties dedicated to the Waqf, institutional governance, court cases and dispute resolution, financial oversight and resource management, and for surveys and development thereof, the rules stated.
Every mutawalli shall enrol on the portal and database by using his mobile number and e-mail address through authentication by one-time password (OTP) received from the portal and database and thereafter be able to access the portal and database and file details of his Waqf and property dedicated to the Waqf.
After enrolment, the mutawalli shall be able to login the portal and database by using his mobile number and e-mail ID with OTP for future use of the portal and database in respect of his Waqf.
A mutawalli is the manager or administrator of a Waqf property, which is an Islamic charitable endowment.
Every user of the portal and database, including board, collector, designated officer under Section 3C of the Act, and other officers of the central government and state government dealing with Waqf shall also have access to the portal and database under this rule.
Central Waqf Council shall have access to the information uploaded on the portal and database.
As per the rules, after completion of survey, the state government shall publish the list of auqaf which shall contain the identification, boundaries of Waqf properties; their use and occupier; details of the creator, mode and date of such creation; purpose of Waqf; and their present mutawalli and management.
The state government shall ensure the notified list of auqaf and the details of each Waqf are uploaded on the portal and database within a period of 90 days from the date of publication of the list in the official gazette by an officer authorised by the state government.
If the notified list of auqaf and details of each Waqf could not be uploaded on the portal and database within the period specified under sub-rule (2), the state government shall upload the same within a further period of 90 days along with the reasons for the delay, the rules stated. A waqf created after the commencement of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (14 of 2025) shall make an application to the board for its registration under Section 36 of the Act within three months of its creation, they said.
The application for registration of Waqf shall be made on the portal and database in Form 4, the rules said. The board shall maintain a register of auqaf under Section 37 of the Act in electronic mode on the portal and database in Form 5, they said.
On receipt of the audit report under sub-section (2) of Section 47 of the Act, the board shall publish the audit report on the portal and database, according to the rules.
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ED raids against Anil Ambani Group companies continue on day 3
Mumbai, Jul 26 (PTI): Enforcement Directorate searches against the companies of Reliance Group chairman Anil Ambani in Mumbai continued for the third day on Saturday with the agency recovering a number of documents and computer peripherals from multiple locations, official sources said.
The raids were launched on July 24 by the federal probe agency as part of an alleged Rs 3,000 crore worth bank loan fraud-linked money laundering case apart from multiple other allegations of financial irregularities with crores of rupees by certain companies.
The searches, being conducted under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are continuing at some locations out of the more than 35 premises that were covered in Mumbai since Thursday, the sources said.
These premises belong to 50 companies and 25 people including a number of executives of the Anil Ambani Group companies.
ED sources had said the investigation primarily pertains to allegations of illegal loan diversion of around Rs 3,000 crore, given by the Yes Bank to the group companies of Ambani between 2017-2019.
Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure, two companies of the group, had on Thursday informed the stock exchanges saying while they acknowledge the action, the raids had "absolutely no impact" on their business operations, financial performance, shareholders, employees, or any other stakeholders.
"The media reports appear to pertain to allegations concerning transactions of Reliance Communications Limited (RCOM) or Reliance Home Finance Limited (RHFL) which are over 10 years old," the companies had said.
The ED, the sources had said, has found that just before the loan was granted, Yes Bank promoters "received" money in their concerns.
The agency is investigating this nexus of "bribe" and the loan.
The sources said the ED is also probing allegations of "gross violations" in Yes Bank loan approvals to these companies including charges like back-dated credit approval memorandums, investments proposed without any due diligence/credit analysis in violation of banks credit policy.
The loans are alleged to have been "diverted" to many group companies and "shell" (bogus) companies by the entities involved.
The agency is also looking at some instances of loans given to entities with weak financials, lack of proper documentation of loans and due diligence, borrowers having common addresses and common directors in their companies etc., the sources said.
The money laundering case stems from at least two CBI FIRs and reports shared by the National Housing Bank, SEBI, National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) and Bank of Baroda with the ED, they said.
These reports indicate, the sources said, that there was a "well-planned and thought after scheme" to divert or siphon off public money by cheating banks, shareholders, investors and other public institutions.
The Union government had informed the Parliament recently that the State Bank of India has classified RCOM along with Ambani as 'fraud' and was also in the process of lodging a complaint with the CBI.
A bank loan "fraud" of more than Rs 1,050 crore between RCOM and Canara Bank is also under the scanner of the ED apart from some "undisclosed" foreign bank accounts and assets, the sources said.
Reliance Mutual fund is also stated to have invested Rs 2,850 crore in AT-1 bonds and a "quid pro quo" is suspected here by the agency.
Additional Tier 1 (AT-1) are perpetual bonds issued by banks to increase their capital base and they are riskier than traditional bonds having higher interest rates. An alleged loan fund diversion of about Rs 10,000 crore involving Reliance Infrastructure too is under the scanner of the agency.
A Sebi report on RHFL is also part of the ED probe.
The companies also said in their filings before the stock exchanges that Anil Ambani was not on the Board of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure and that they had no "business or financial linkage" to RCOM or RHFL.
Any action taken against RCOM or RHFL, the companies said, has no bearing or impact on the governance, management, or operations of either Reliance Power or Reliance Infrastructure.
