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Informist, Thursday, Aug 8, 2024

NEW DELHI – The government today referred the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 to the Joint Parliamentary Committee after the Opposition demanded a wider scrutiny of the contentious legislation. The Bill was introduced in the Lower House by Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju today. The committee will be constituted by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, and include members from both Houses of Parliament and from various political parties.

As soon as Rijiju moved to introduce the legislation in the Lok Sabha, which seeks to amend the Waqf Act 1995 for better management of assets and administration of waqf, the Opposition parties raised their objections, stating that the Bill was brought without consultation with stakeholders. They called it anti-Muslim, against cooperative federalism and politically motivated. The Opposition also alleged that the Bill violates the constitutional right to freedom of religion.

Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal alleged that the bill was brought in view of the upcoming elections in Maharashtra and Haryana. It will create enmity amongst the communities and threaten the harmony of the country, he claimed in the House, adding that the Bill would trigger disputes over each mosque that does not have any deed.

Opposition parties particularly criticised the amendments which shrink the power of the waqf board and make provision for the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam member K. Kanimozhi asked if the government would make a non-Hindu a member of a Hindu shrine board or temple.

The Bharatiya Janata Party's allies in the government, however, supported the Bill. The Janata Dal (United) and Shiv Sena extended their support to the legislation. The Telugu Desam Party, while supporting the Bill, suggested that the legislation should be sent to a select committee for wider scrutiny.

In response to the Opposition parties' criticism, Rijiju told the House that the Bill was brought after extensive consultation with the stakeholders. He said that the legislation isn't against any religion but only aims to bring transparency in the waqf boards. On the allegation of making non-Muslims part of the waqf boards, the minister said that the Bill proposes that members of Parliament shall be the members of the waqf boards. "If the member is a Hindu or Christian, then what can we do about it? Should we change the religion of the members?" Rijiju asked.

The minister also stated that the Bill was based on the recommendations of the Sachar Committee which was constituted by the previous Congress government and a Joint Parliamentary Committee. Rijiju further accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of misleading Muslims of the country, adding that he had held numerous meetings with Muslim delegations to discuss the Bill.

Interestingly, the Waqf Amendment Bill renames the Waqf Act, 1995 as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995. It shrinks the powers of waqf board and empowers the Centre to make rules pertaining to asset management and administration.

The Bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the Waqf Act, which empowered the board to decide if a property is a waqf property. It seeks to streamline the registration of waqfs through a central portal and database. It also makes it mandatory for every waqf to file the details of the waqf and the property dedicated to it on the portal and database, within a period of six months. The provision will have a retrospective effect.

It further states that any government property declared as waqf property shall not be deemed to be waqf property. In case of any issue, the collector will hold an enquiry to determine whether the property is a government-owned one or not. Earlier, the board used to declare the waqf properties and its decision was final unless revoked by a tribunal.

The government also stated that the Waqf Act requires improvement to address issues related to the powers of the State Waqf Boards, registration and survey of waqf properties, removal of encroachments, including the definition of the "waqf" itself. The Bill also aims to reform the tribunal structure with two members and provide for appeals against the orders of the tribunal to a high court within a specified period of 90 days.  End

Reported by Kuldeep Singh

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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