Kozhikode: State waqf board chairman K S Hamza said the Supreme Court’s deletion of HC’s directive that the board shall function under the supervision of state govt’s joint secretary/additional secretary addressed the board’s principal grievance and allowed it to function independently.Responding to the SC verdict on Tuesday, Hamza said the board’s main contention before SC was against the provision requiring a govt secretary to be placed above the board. Last week, HC issued an interim order directing that the state waqf board must function under the supervision of the govt’s joint/additional secretary. “Supreme Court has set aside that requirement, ruling that the board is free to function independently,” he said.However, SC declined to intervene in HC’s interim directive barring the board from taking major policy decisions or incurring capital expenditure. Responding to this, Hamza said those two conditions are coming up before the high court on Wednesday. “SC also directed HC to consider the matter expeditiously,” he said.Hamza said the board was not a party to the issues that arose in this case and added that the controversy had been ‘created’. He maintained that the board was functioning smoothly and cited the previous board, appointed during UDF govt’s tenure, which continued to function without interference after LDF assumed office in 2016.“At that time, govt respected the board’s statutory autonomy and allowed it to function independently till 2019. Instead of extending that courtesy to the present board, there was unnecessary interference by the current regime that acted in haste,” he alleged.Meanwhile, the board’s counsel said the principal argument before the apex court was that HC’s interim order violated the principles of natural justice by appointing an administrator without hearing the board’s chairman, its members or giving the board additional time to respond. He also alleged that state govt had supported the petitioners during court proceedings, including BJP leaders who had challenged the board’s composition.