Crime Today News
The Union government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that some provisions of the recently-passed Waqf Amendment Act, such as the denotification of existing waqf properties, will not be enacted until the court hears the matter again, Bar and Bench reported.
A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan was also told that the provision pertaining to the inclusion of non-Muslims in waqf boards will not be acted on during this period. The court was hearing petitions challenging the Waqf Amendment Act, which came into force on April 8.
The court directed the Union government to file its response to the petitions within a week, Bar and Bench reported. The bench also ordered that no appointments can be made to the Central Waqf Council or the state waqf boards until the next hearing on May 5.
A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.
The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act, including allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.
The bill was cleared by Parliament on April 4. It received presidential assent on April 5 and took effect on April 8.
The Congress and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, among others, have challenged the constitutionality of the bill in the Supreme Court.
On Thursday, the chief justice observed that the situation on the ground might change if certain provisions of the law were not stayed. “Normally, it is rare to stay a statute, but we are apprehensive that the situation could change drastically,” The Hindu quoted Khanna as saying.
This came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, argued that a stay on the law would be a “harsh step”, the newspaper reported.
The court’s directions on Thursday came a day after it proposed to stay some provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act. The bench, however, had not passed an order to that effect and said that it would hear the matter again on Thursday.
The chief justice on Wednesday also expressed concern over the violent protests in West Bengal against amendments to the Waqf Act.
Protests have broken out in parts of the country over the amendment, with incidents of violence reported in several regions. In West Bengal’s Murshidabad district, three persons died when demonstrations against the law turned violent.
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