Waqf Board can initiate criminal proceedings in post-2013 Waqf land encroachment cases

A Single Judge of the Kerala High Court quashed the proceedings against two people in an alleged pre-2013 land encroachment case on Tuesday by noting that such acts were made punishable only through an amendment to the Waqf Act in 2013, the accused were in possession of the property even before the introduction of the amendment, and no penal acts could be given retrospective operation