CJI-led Bench to hear petitions challenging Waqf Act on April 16
The Supreme Court will take up on April 16 as many as 10 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act-2025 that came into force on April 8.
The cause-list for cases listed for hearing on April 16 uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website showed 10 petitions, including those filed by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Arshad Madani.
The other petitioners were RJD MP Manoj Jha and another, AAP MLA in Delhi Amanatullah Khan, Association for Protection of Civil Rights, Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama and another, Taiyyab Khan Salmani, Anjum Kadari, Mohammad Shafi and another, and Mohammad Fazalurrahim and another. The petitions are listed before a Bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan.
Madani has urged the top court to stay the operation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. As several opposition leaders and Muslim organisations challenged the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act and sought a stay on the operation of the amendment, the Centre has already filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to pre-empt the possibility of any ex parte order staying the operation of the amended law. By filing a caveat in a court, a litigant urges the court to be heard before an order is passed on the petition filed by the other side.
Passed by the Rajya Sabha during the wee hours of April 4 with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it, the Waqf Bill received President Droupadi Murmu’s assent on April 5. The Lok Sabha passed the Bill on April 3, with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it. The Centre notified it on April 8.
Under the amended law, only self-owned resources can be declared as Waqf after ensuring the inheritance rights of women and children and the DC will determine that land being donated by a Muslim is actually in his ownership. It also empowers state governments to nominate members, including representatives from backward classes and both Shia and Sunni communities, to Waqf boards.
Alleging that the “bill is a dangerous conspiracy to strip Muslims of their religious freedom”, Jamiat urged the top court to prevent the law from coming into effect. “It’s a direct attack on the country’s Constitution, which not only provides equal rights to its citizens but also grants them complete religious freedom”, Jamiat contended.
The DMK has also filed a petition against the amendment through its party deputy general secretary and Lok Sabha MP A Raja, who was also a member of the joint parliamentary committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill.
Haryana Congress MLA Aftab Ahmad has also filed a petition against the amendment. Congress Lok Sabha MP from Kishanganj in Bihar, Mohammad Jawed, was the first to approach the Supreme Court against the amendment. Jawed alleged that the amended law imposed “arbitrary restrictions” on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
Owaisi contended that the Bill took away various protections accorded to Waqfs and Hindu, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike and discriminated against Muslims.
India