SC likely to hear on April 15 pleas challenging Waqf Act, Centre files caveat

The Supreme Court would likely on April 15 hear a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Act 2025The Centre however on Tuesday filed a caveat in the apex court and sought a hearing before any order was passed in the matterCaveat is filed by a party in the high courts and the apex court to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing itA Government notification in the meantime said Waqf Amendment Act 2025 which was passed by Parliament last week comes into force on TuesdayIn exercise of the powers conferred by subsection 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 saidOver 10 petitions including those by politicians and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board AIMPLB and Jamiat UlamaiHind were filed in the top court challenging the validity of the newlyenacted lawLawyers privy to the development said the petitions were likely to be listed for hearing before a bench on April 15 though it is not reflected on the apex court website as of nowOn April 7 a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna assured senior advocate Kapil Sibal appearing for Jamiat UlamaiHind to consider listing the petitionsPresident Droupadi Murmu on April 5 gave her assent to the Waqf Amendment Bill 2025 which was passed by Parliament after heated debates in both housesThe 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 itThe Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam DMK Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi RJD MPs Manoj Jha and Faiyaz Ahmad AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan have also filed petitions in the apex court challenging the validity of the ActThe 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 stakeholdersThe 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 countryThe AIMPLB filed the plea in the top court late April 6In 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 exclusionThe 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 governments intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf therefore sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowmentsArticles 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 saidThe plea is settled by advocate M R Shamshad with advocateonrecord Talha Abdul Rahman representing the Muslim personal law board through its General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Raheem MujaddidiJamiat UlamaiHind also filed a petition in the apex court claiming it was a dangerous conspiracy to strip Muslims of their religious freedomIn its petition Jamiat said the law was a direct attack on the countrys Constitution which not only provides equal rights to its citizens but also grants them complete religious freedomIn 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 religionJaweds plea alleged the Act imposed arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and their management undermining the Muslim communitys religious autonomyThe 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 endowmentsIn 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 alikeThis 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 Owaisis plea filed through advocate Lzafeer AhmadNGO Association for the Protection of Civil Rights also filed a petition in the apex court challenging the constitutional validity of the ActAAP MLA Amanatullah Khan sought the law declared as unconstitutional being violative of Articles 14 15 21 25 26 29 30 and 300A of the ConstitutionThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params