Exclude Hindus from purview of Waqf Act-1995: Plea in apex court
On the eve of a hearing on petitions challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act-2025 for allegedly discriminating against Muslims, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court on Tuesday, seeking complete exclusion of Hindus from the purview of the parent Act of 1995.
Petitioner advocate Hari Shankar Jain has challenged more than a dozen provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995, contending they violated the fundamental rights of non-Muslims under Articles 14 (right to equality), 15 (right to non-discrimination), 21 (right to life and liberty), 25 (right to religion), 27 (right not to be compelled to pay taxes for promotion of any particular religion) and 300A (right to property) of the Constitution.
Jain, who has been at the forefront of a legal fight for reclaiming Hindu temples, submitted that the impugned provisions conferred undue benefits on Muslims and discriminated against non-Muslims. As advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain mentioned Hari Shankar’s petition before a Bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna for listing on Wednesday along with 70 other pleas against the Amendment, the CJI said he would consider listing it urgently.
A Bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan is scheduled to take up around 70 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, including those filed by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Arshad Madani, on April 16.
As Madani urged the SC to stay the operation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, the Centre has filed a caveat to pre-empt the possibility of any ex-parte order.
The governments of six BJP-ruled states on Monday moved the SC in support of the Amendment. The anti-Act petitioners alleged the amended law imposed “arbitrary restrictions” on Waqf properties, undermining religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
The petition filed by Jain on Tuesday demanded that Hindus and non-Muslims should be entitled to approach civil courts in disputes relating to Waqf and land belonging to Hindus and common village land should be identified and recovered from Waqf Boards.
India