Civil court jurisdiction preserved for pre-Act wakf suits where the claim was filed before the Rajasthan Wakf Act commenced.

Sections 7 and 85 of the Rajasthan Wakf Act, 1995 confer exclusive Tribunal jurisdiction only over disputes specifically assigned to it, and bar civil court jurisdiction only for matters required by the Act to be decided by the Tribunal. Section 7(5) preserves suits and proceedings already instituted in civil court before the Act commenced. Because the suit had been filed in 1980, long before the Act came into force, the statutory bar did not divest the civil court of jurisdiction. The civil court was therefore entitled to continue with the suit, and the plaint could not be returned.

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Issues: Whether the civil court lacked jurisdiction to try the suit in view of Sections 7 and 85 of the Rajasthan Wakf Act, 1995, and whether a suit instituted before the commencement of the Act remained triable by the civil court.

Analysis: Section 7(1) confers exclusive jurisdiction on the Tribunal only in respect of disputes specified therein, namely whether a property in the wakf list is wakf property or whether a wakf is Shia or Sunni, and Section 85 bars civil court jurisdiction only for matters required by or under the Act to be determined by the Tribunal. However, Section 7(5) preserves suits and proceedings already instituted or commenced in civil court before the commencement of the Act. Since the suit was filed in 1980, much before the Rajasthan Wakf Act, 1995 came into force, the statutory bar did not apply to divest the civil court of jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The civil court had jurisdiction to continue with the suit, and the order returning the plaint could not stand.

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