Mussalman Wakaf Act, 1923

The Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923 requires better record-keeping and transparency around 'wakf' property -- assets permanently dedicated by a Muslim for a religious, pious or charitable purpose. It applies to the person managing such property, called a mutwalli, and does not cover a wakf where the person who created it (or their family) still personally benefits from it, as described in the Mussalman Wakf Validating Act, 1913.

Section 3 requires every mutwalli to file, within six months of the Act taking effect (or of a new wakf being created), a statement to the relevant District Court describing the wakf property, its annual income, government revenue and rent payable on it, running costs, and how the money is allocated -- for the mutwalli's own salary, for religious purposes, for charitable purposes, and for anything else. Section 4 lets the court publicise that a statement has been filed, and any interested person can apply to the court for an order requiring the mutwalli to provide further particulars.

Section 5 then requires an annual statement of accounts, due within three months of 31 March each year, and Section 6 requires those accounts to be audited -- by a certified company auditor if the wakf's yearly income (after land revenue and cesses) exceeds two thousand rupees, or otherwise by a person the court authorises. Section 7 lets the mutwalli pay the cost of preparing and auditing these statements out of the wakf's own income.

Section 9 gives the public a right, with the court's permission and on payment of a fee, to inspect or get copies of any statement, document or audit report filed under the Act -- a transparency measure meant to let beneficiaries and the public check how wakf property is being managed. Section 10 is the penalty provision: anyone required to furnish a statement, document or accounts who fails to do so without reasonable cause, or who knowingly furnishes a false, misleading or unaudited statement, is punishable with a fine of up to five hundred rupees for a first offence, rising to up to two thousand rupees for a second or later offence.

Section 12 clarifies the Act does not override other laws on religious or charitable endowments, and does not apply where a wakf is already being administered by the Administrator General, the Official Trustee, a court-appointed receiver, or under a court-approved scheme. Section 13 lets the Provincial Government exempt specific wakfs from the Act. This is a very old law from 1923, and the extract shows multiple amendment footnotes (from 1937, 1960 and 1975), so anyone relying on it -- especially the fine amounts -- should check the current officially published text.