DIRECTOR OF ENDOWMENTS GOVERNMENT OF HYDERABAD Vs. AKRAM ALI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondent filed a petition under Art. 226 of the Constitution in the High Court of Judicature at Hyderabad asking for a 'mandamus' against the Director of Endowments of the Hyderabad Government. His prayer was that the Director be ordered to hand over the management and possession of a certain Dargah called the Dargah of Jehangir and Burhan-ud-din Piran and also the adjoining "hereditary lands", together with the income and profits, to the respondent.

(2.) The High Court granted the writ and the State of Hyderabad appeals.

(3.) The respondent's case is that the Dargah contains the tomb of one of his ancestors and that he and his ancestors have been the hereditary Sajjadas and Mutawallis of the Dargah for generations. In the year 1914, when the respondent's brother Syed Hussain was in possession, the Ecclesiastical Department of the State stepped in and entrusted the supervision of the Dargah to one Azam Ali.