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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which aimed to regulate waqf properties by proposing amendments in the Waqf Act, 1995.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna.
Appearing for the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Senior Advocate Sibal sought an urgent listing of the matter.
The CJI agreed to look into the mentioning letter and assured that the petitions would be listed for hearing.
On April 5, President Draupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha on April 3 with 288 Members of Parliament (MPs) voting in favour and 232 against it. The Bill received the Rajya Sabha nod on April 4 after 128 MPs voted in favour and 95 against it.
Several petitions have been filed in the Apex Court challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) filed separate petitions against the Act on Monday, terming it an infringement of minority rights.
On April 6, Samastha Kerala Jem Iyyathul Ulema, a body of Sunni scholars, also approached the top court of the country against the Act, calling it a violation of fundamental rights of the minority community protected under Article 26 of the Constitution.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board Amanatullah Khan had filed a similar petition on April 5. Khan submitted that the bill curtailed the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, while undermining the minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions.
Noting that the Act enabled arbitrary executive interference, Khan sought urgent intervention of the Apex Court to safeguard the secular and constitutional fabric of the country.
On April 4, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress party whip in the Lok Sabha Mohammad Jawed moved the Apex Court against the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
While Owaisi termed the Bill as unconstitutional, Jawed called it discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violating their fundamental rights.
Jawed contended that the Bill violated Article 14 (right to equality), 25 (freedom to practice religion), 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs), 29 (minority rights) and 300A (right to property) of the Constitution.
The Congress party whip in the Lok Sabha was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee that reviewed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.
Filed by Advocate Anas Tanwir, Jawed’s petition alleged that the Bill discriminated against the Muslim community by imposing restrictions that were not present in the governance of other religious endowments.
He said while the Hindu and Sikh religious trusts continued to enjoy a degree of self-regulation, the amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995 disproportionately increased state intervention in Waqf affairs.
Such differential treatment amounted to a violation of Article 14 in addition to the introduction of arbitrary classifications that lacked a reasonable nexus to the objectives sought to be achieved, making it impermissible under the doctrine of manifest arbitrariness, he added.
Jawed said the Bill introduces restrictions on the creation of Waqfs based on the duration of one’s religious practice. Such a limitation was unfounded in Islamic law, customs or precedents, and infringed upon the fundamental right to profess and practice religion under Article 25.
The restriction further discriminated against individuals who had recently converted to Islam and wished to dedicate property for religious or charitable purposes, thereby violating Article 15, noted the petition.
The plea contended that the proposed amendment to the composition of the Waqf Board and the Central Waqf Council, mandating the inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf administrative bodies, was an unwarranted interference in religious governance, unlike Hindu religious endowments, which remained exclusively managed by Hindus under various state enactments.
The petition submitted that this selective intervention, without imposing similar conditions on other religious institutions, was an arbitrary classification and violated Articles 14 & 15.
Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Lok Sabha on August 28, 2024.
Waqf refers to properties dedicated exclusively for religious or charitable purposes under the Islamic law. The Waqf Act, 1995, was enacted to govern the administration of waqf properties (religious endowments) in India.
It provided for the power and functions of the Waqf Council, State Waqf Boards, the Chief Executive Officer, and the mutawalli. The Act further spoke about the power and restrictions of Waqf Tribunals, which act in lieu of a civil court under its jurisdiction.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, renamed the 1995 Act to the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, reflecting its broader objective to improve the management and efficiency of Waqf boards and properties.
While the 1995 Act allowed waqf to be formed by declaration, long-term use, or endowment, the Waqf Amendment Act 2025 stated that only a person practicing Islam for at least five years may declare a waqf. It clarified that the person must own the property being declared. It removed waqf by user, where properties could be deemed as waqf based solely on prolonged use for religious purposes. It also added that waqf-alal-aulad must not result in the denial of inheritance rights to the donor’s heir, including women heirs.
While the 1995 Act empowered the Waqf Board to inquire and determine if a property is waqf, the 2025 Act removed this provision.
It provided that two members of the Central Waqf Council, set up to advise the Central and State governments and waqf boards, must be non-Muslims. Members of Parliament, former judges, and eminent persons appointed to the Council as per the Act need not be Muslims. Representatives of Muslim organisations, scholars in Islamic law and chairpersons of Waqf Boards must be Muslims. Of the Muslim members, two must be women.
The Act empowered the Central government to make rules regarding the registration and publication of accounts of waqf, along with the publication of proceedings of Waqf Boards.
Under the 2025 Act, state governments could get the accounts of Waqfs audited at any point. It empowered the Central government to get these audited by the CAG or a designated officer.
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