SC Proposes To Pass Interim Order On Pleas Challenging Waqf Amendment Act 2025, Says 'Waqfs Declared By Courts Should Not Be De-Notified'

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday proposed to pass an interim order on a bunch of pleas challenging the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025. The next hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow.

Notably, as many as 72 petitions, including those by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi, have been filed challenging the validity of the Act.

What Supreme Court Bench Said?

A bench comprising Chief Justice (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan said that the properties declared by Courts as Waqfs should not be de-notified as Waqfs whether they are by waqf-by-user or waqf by deed, reported The Live Law.

The court further stated that the proviso of the Amendment Act, according to which, a Waqf property will not be treated as a Waqf at the time of an inquiry by the Collector to determine whether the property is Government land, will not be effective.

The apex court said that all members of the Waqf Boards and Central Waqf Council must be Muslims, except for the ex-officio members.

CJI On Incidents Of Violence?

The CJI also expressed concern over violence despite the case being pending. “The one thing that is very disturbing is the violence that is taking place. The issue is before the court, and we will decide,” the CJI said.

The next hearing is scheduled to take place tomorrow, April 17.

The Centre recently notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which got the assent of President Droupadi Murmu on April 5 after its passage from Parliament following heated debates in both houses.

The bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.

Published on: Wednesday, April 16, 2025, 04:07 PM IST