New Delhi: The Supreme Court would likely April 15 hear a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The Centre, however, Tuesday filed a caveat in the apex court and sought a hearing before any order was passed in the matter.
The caveat is filed by a party in the high courts and the apex court to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing it.
A Government notification, in the meantime, said Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was passed by Parliament last week, comes into force Tuesday.
“In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (14 of 2025), the Central Government hereby appoints the 8th day of April, 2025 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act shall come into force,” the Ministry of Minority Affairs notification said.
Over 10 petitions, including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newly-enacted law.
Lawyers privy to the development said the petitions were likely to be listed for a hearing before a bench April 15, though it is not reflected on the apex court website as of now.
April 7, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna assured senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, to consider listing the petitions.
President Droupadi Murmu April 5 gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was passed by Parliament after 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.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, RJD MPs Manoj Jha and Faiyaz Ahmad, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan have also filed petitions in the apex court challenging the validity of the Act.
The DMK moved the top court through its deputy general secretary A. Raja and said in a press release, “Despite widespread Opposition, the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, was passed by the union government without proper consideration of the objections raised by the members of the JPC and the other stakeholders.”
The party said the immediate implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 infringes and prejudices the rights of about 50 lakh Muslims in Tamil Nadu and 20 crore Muslims in the other parts of the country.
The AIMPLB filed the plea in the top court late April 6.
In a press statement, SQR Ilyas, the AIMPLB spokesperson, said the petition strongly objected to the amendments passed by Parliament for being “arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion”.
The amendments, it said, not only violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India but also clearly revealed the government’s intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf, therefore sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowments.
Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution ensure freedom of conscience, the right to practice, propagate religion, and the right to establish and manage institutions for religious and charitable purposes, it said.
The plea is settled by advocate M R Shamshad, with advocate-on-record Talha Abdul Rahman representing the Muslim personal law board, through its General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi.
Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind also filed a petition in the apex court, claiming it was a “dangerous conspiracy” to strip Muslims of their religious freedom.
In its petition, Jamiat said the law was a “direct attack on the country’s Constitution, which not only provides equal rights to its citizens but also grants them complete religious freedom”.
In its separate plea filed in the top court, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, a religious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics in Kerala, has claimed the Act was a “blatant intrusion” into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion.
Jawed’s plea alleged the Act imposed “arbitrary restrictions” on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the Muslim community’s religious autonomy.
The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, said the law discriminated against the Muslim community by “imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments”.
In a separate plea, Owaisi said the bill took away from Waqfs various protection which are accorded to Waqfs and Hindus, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.
“This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion,” said Owaisi’s plea, filed through advocate Lzafeer Ahmad.
NGO Association for the Protection of Civil Rights also filed a petition in the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.
AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan sought the law declared as unconstitutional, being violative of “Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution”.
PTI
