Wakf Tribunal jurisdiction requires first-instance disputes over Wakf property to be raised before the special forum, not civil court.

Disputes concerning a Wakf or Wakf property must first be brought before the Wakf Tribunal under the Wakf Act, 1995, because Section 83 creates a special forum with wide jurisdiction over all such matters. The Tribunal is empowered to decide disputes expeditiously and may grant interim relief, while the High Court's role arises only after Tribunal decision through statutory scrutiny. This special forum displaces direct resort to the Civil Court and bars immediate recourse to the High Court under Article 226 at the first instance. The Supreme Court set aside the impugned judgment and permitted the parties to approach the Tribunal.

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Issues: Whether disputes relating to a Wakf or Wakf property must in the first instance be raised before the Wakf Tribunal, thereby excluding direct recourse to the Civil Court or the High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

Analysis: The Wakf Act, 1995 creates a special forum under Section 83 for determination of any dispute, question or other matter relating to a Wakf or Wakf property. The expression used in the provision is of wide amplitude and covers all disputes concerning a Wakf property once the property answers the statutory definition. Section 84 requires the Tribunal to decide such matters expeditiously, and Section 83(5) confers powers of a Civil Court, including the power to grant interim relief. The proviso to Section 83(9) contemplates High Court scrutiny after the Tribunal's decision, indicating that the Tribunal is the primary forum. The presence of a special statutory forum excludes direct resort to the general civil jurisdiction.

Conclusion: The dispute was required to be instituted before the Wakf Tribunal and not before the Civil Court or directly before the High Court; the Tribunal had exclusive initial jurisdiction.

Final Conclusion: The impugned judgment was set aside and the appeal was allowed, with liberty to the parties to approach the Wakf Tribunal.

Ratio Decidendi: Where a special statute creates a Tribunal with wide jurisdiction over disputes relating to a Wakf or Wakf property, the Tribunal is the forum and civil court or direct writ jurisdiction cannot be invoked at the first instance.

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