4 BJP-ruled states move SC in support of Waqf Act
Ahead of the April 16 hearing on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, governments of four BJP-ruled states of Assam, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra on Monday moved the Supreme Court in support of the amendment.
In separate intervention applications filed in the top court in support of the Waqf Act, the four state governments have sought to be impleaded in order to be heard in the matter.
“The law is not only constitutionally sound and non-discriminatory, but is also rooted in the values of transparency, fairness and accountability, and it serves to protect the interests of both religious endowments and the broader public," the Rajasthan Government submitted.
The CPI, Tamil actor-turned-politician Vijay and the YSRCP-led by former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy have moved the Supreme Court against the Act.
Passed by the Rajya Sabha during the wee hours of April 4 with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 received President 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.
However, the CPI alleged that the amendment substantially curtailed the autonomy of the Waqf Board and fundamentally transformed the framework of the Waqf Act, 1995. “It vests unchecked authority in the Central government over the administration of the Waqf Board, thereby infringing upon the rights guaranteed under Articles 25,26, and 29 of the Constitution," the CPI submitted.
A Bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan is scheduled to take up on April 16 as many as 10 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, 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.
As Madani urged the top court to stay the operation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, the Centre has filed a caveat in the Supreme Court to pre-empt the possibility of any ex-parte order. 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.
The petitioners alleged that the amended law imposed “arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community and took away various protections accorded to Waqfs and discriminated against Muslims.
India