The Supreme Court on Monday (September 15) morning has put a stay on key provisions of the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025.
According to LiveLaw, the bench of Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice A.G. Masih passed these orders:
1. The provision in Section 3(1)(r) that a person should be a practitioner of Islam for five years before dedicating a property to Waqf has been stayed till state governments frame rules regarding the determination of who is a practising Muslim.
2. The provision allowing the designated officer of the government to decide the dispute whether a Waqf property has encroached upon a government property has been stayed, observing that an executive officer cannot be permitted to adjudicate the rights of personal citizens and this will violate the separation of powers.
3. While the provision allowing non-Muslims to be members of the Waqf Board has not been stayed, the court said that not more than three non-Muslim members should be included in the Waqf Board and in total not more than four non-Muslims shall be included in the Waqf Councils for now.
The court did not stay the registration requirement on Waqf properties, saying that this had always been the case. On concerns around the time limit for registration, the court said, according to Bar and Bench, that this has been addressed in the interim order which is not yet available.
The Lok Sabha passed the Waqf (Amendment) Act on April 3, and the Rajya Sabha followed on April 4. The amendment Act received presidential assent on April 5.
A slew of opposition leaders, NGOs and activists have criticised the amended Act as a violation of Article 26 of the constitution, which guarantees the freedom to manage religious affairs of citizens. The swift passage of the act in parliament and its implementation has also led to violence in several states, including West Bengal’s Murshidabad district. The Supreme Court is hearing a group of petitions challenging the law.
The bench had reserved its orders on May 22, after three days of hearings. The Union government had responded to the petitions challenging the legislation by saying that waqf is “not a fundamental right”, nor is it an “essential” part of Islam.
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