The erstwhile Punjab Waqf Board was established on 2nd September, 1961 under section 9 of the Waqf Act, 1954 with jurisdiction over the entire erstwhile State of Punjab as it existed prior to its re-organization in the year 1966. The Punjab Waqf Board continued to retain its name and jurisdiction even after the re-organization of the erstwhile State of Punjab into three States i.e. Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh and UT of Chandigarh. The Punjab Waqf Board served as a common link in respect of waqf administration in these States and the Union Territory of Chandigarh. 

Being an inter-state Waqf Board, it continued to function under the administrative control of the Government of India.

The erstwhile Punjab Waqf Board had under its control nearly 40,000 waqfs. However, the revenue derived from these waqfs was quite low because of several factors. As there was mass exodus of Muslim population from this part of Punjab in the wake of partition of the country, the waqf properties came under the control of the Custodian of Evacuee Properties. As there were no means to verify at that stage of utter confusion as to which of the properties left over by the migrating Muslims were their personal properties and which of such properties were waqfs, the Custodian of Evacuee Properties started allotting such properties to those who migrated from Pakistan at very nominal rents, mostly based on possession.

This situation continued for a long time, with the result that alongwith personal properties of Muslims, the waqf properties also went under the possession of the incoming migrants at very nominal rents. It was only after enactment of the Waqf Act, 1954 and establishment of the Punjab Waqf Board in 1960 that a vigorous and sustained exercise was initiated to identify Muslim waqf properties as distinct from Muslim evacuee properties so as to enable the Government to transfer such properties to the Board of Waqfs constituted under the Act for the erstwhile State of Punjab. This exercise took considerable time (from 1963 to 1969) and after a great deal of deliberations and extensive survey of waqf properties by a Waqf Commissioner appointed by the Government such of these properties which could be identified as waqfs were transferred to the Punjab Waqf Board, mostly with sitting tenants. 

It was under such a situation that the Punjab Waqf Board could assume supervision and control over such of these Muslim waqf properties as could be identified and transferred to the Board. As the rents fixed by the Custodian of Evacuee Properties in respect of such properties were extremely low, the revenue derived from these properties known as “Auqaf”, which came under the purview of the Board, was insignificant and was not at all commensurate with the value of the properties so transferred. However, situation has considerably improved in this regard since the creation of the Haryana Waqf Board.