Supreme Court proposes to stay denotification of land declared waqf by courts
The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed to stay some provisions of the recently-passed Waqf Amendment Act, including the inclusion of non-Muslims in waqf boards and the denotification of properties declared as waqf by courts, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan, however, did not pass an order to that effect and said that it would hear the matter again on Thursday. The court was hearing petitions challenging the Waqf Amendment Act, which came into force on April 8.
The bench verbally observed that it was considering passing an interim order to “balance equities”, Bar and Bench reported. The order will say that properties that have been declared as waqf by a court “will not be de-notified or be treated as non-waqf…whether it is waqf by user or not”.
The district collector can continue with legal proceedings, “but the provision will not be given effect to”, the bench was quoted as saying.
It added: “Third, regarding board and council…ex officio members can be appointed. But the other members have to Muslims.”
A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer...
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