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Informist, Friday, Apr. 4, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – Two petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court by Indian National Congress and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leaders against The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to amend the law for administration of waqf properties in the country. The petitioners Congress lawmaker Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi said that the 2025 Bill was discriminatory towards Muslim community and violated their fundamental rights.

 

Jawed said that the 2025 Bill violated Article 14, 25, 26, 29 and 300A of the Constitution. The 2025 Bill discriminates against the Muslim community by imposing restrictions that were not present in the governance of other religious endowments, said Jawed. While Hindu and Sikh religious trusts continue to enjoy a degree of self-regulation, the amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995, disproportionately increases state intervention in Waqf affairs, said Jawed.

 

Such differential treatment amounts to a violation of Article 14 in addition to introduction of arbitrary classifications that lack a reasonable nexus to the objectives sought to be achieved, making it impermissible under the doctrine of manifest arbitrariness, said Jawed. Further, the 2025 Bill introduces restrictions on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one's religious practice, said Jawed. Such a limitation is unfounded in Islamic law, custom or precedent and infringes upon the fundamental right to profess and practice religion under Article 25, said Jawed.

 

Further, Jawed also contested the move to mandate inclusion of non-Muslim members in the Central Waqf Council, state waqf boards, and waqf tribunals. The same is unwarranted interference in religious governance unlike Hindu religious endowments, which remain exclusively managed by Hindus under various state enactments, said Jawed.

 

Owaisi, in his petition, said the Bill was "unconstitutional" and its provisions "brazenly violate the fundamental rights of Muslims and the Muslim community."

 

On Friday, the Rajya Sabha had passed the 2025 Bill, nearly 24 hours after it was passed by the Lok Sabha. 

 

The Waqf Amendment Bill, which seeks to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, will bring about significant changes in the administration and management of waqf properties. It shrinks the powers of the Waqf Board and empowers the central government to make rules pertaining to asset management and administration. The Bill seeks to omit Section 40 of the Waqf Act, which empowers the board to decide if a property is a waqf property. It also seeks to streamline the registration of waqfs through a central portal and database. The new Bill allows the appointment of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council, state waqf boards, and waqf tribunals. It also added a provision to allow the waqf tribunal to extend six months' time for the registration of waqfs in the centralised portal.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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