Supreme Court to hear pleas challenging Waqf Act on April 16

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is set to hear on April 16 a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Vishwanathan would hear the pleas.

According to caselist uploaded on the Supreme Court website, the matter is listed as item no. 13 for hearing.

The Central government had also filed caveat application in the Supreme Court urging it to hear the government in the petitions filed before it challenging validity of Waqf (Amendment) Act.

A Caveat application is filed by a litigant to ensure that no adverse order is passed against him or her without being heard.

Several petitions were filed in the apex court challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violates their fundamental rights.

President Droupadi Murmu on April 5 gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was earlier passed by Parliament after heated debates in both Houses.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MPs Mohammad Jawed and Imran Pratapgarhi, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, MP and President of the Azad Samaj Party Chandra Shekhar Azad, Samajwadi Party MP from Sambhal Zia Ur Rehman Barq, President of the Islamic cleric’s body Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind Maulana Arshad Madani, Kerala Sunni scholars’ body Samastha Kerala Jamiatul Ulema, Social Democratic Party of India, Indian Union Muslim League, and NGO Association for Protection of Civil Rights have already approached the top court against the Act.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also challenged the Act, saying it strongly objected to the amendments passed by Parliament for being “arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion”.

Manoj Jha and Faiyaz Ahmad, MPs in Rajya Sabha from Bihar’s RJD, have also challenged the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2025 on the grounds that it facilitates large-scale government interference in Muslim religious endowments. RJD MLA from Bihar Muhammad Izhar Asfi also challenged the Act.

The ruling party Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) in Tamil Nadu, through its MP A Raja, who was a part of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Bill, also approached the apex court against the Act.

In his plea, Javed, who was also a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, said that the Act discriminates against the Muslim community by imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments.

Owaisi in his plea stated that the amended Act “irreversibly dilute” the statutory protections afforded to Waqfs and their regulatory framework while conferring undue advantage upon other stakeholders and interest groups, undermining years of progress and setting back Waqf management by several decades.

Amanatullah Khan’s plea stated that the Act curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions.

Samastha Kerala Jamiatul Ulema contended that these amendments would distort the religious character of Waqfs while also irreversibly damaging the democratic process in the administration of Waqf and Waqf Boards.

Madani in his petition challenged various provisions of the Act terming them unconstitutional and destructive to the Waqf administration and jurisprudence in India.

His petition further said that several Waqf properties would be vulnerable due to the mandatory timelines for uploading details on the Portal and Database envisaged under the amendment, threatening the very existence of a large number of historical waqfs particularly those created by oral dedication or without formal deeds.

While the NGO submitted that the Act is not only unnecessary but also an alarming interference into the religious affairs of the Muslim community, diluting the fundamental purpose of Waqf, which is a practice deeply rooted in Quranic references.(agencies)