{"id":45165,"date":"2025-03-01T09:42:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-01T04:12:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45165"},"modified":"2025-05-06T17:50:00","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T12:20:00","slug":"union-cabinet-approves-amendments-proposed-by-the-jpc-to-the-waqf-amendment-bill","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/union-cabinet-approves-amendments-proposed-by-the-jpc-to-the-waqf-amendment-bill\/","title":{"rendered":"Union Cabinet Approves Amendments Proposed by the JPC to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Latest News<\/li>\n<li>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Background<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<li>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Union Cabinet has approved all 14 amendments proposed by the <strong>Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC)<\/strong> to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament during the second half of the Budget session starting on March 10.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The amendments address key provisions concerning the regulation, registration, and dispute resolution mechanisms for waqf properties in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Background<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill was introduced in August 2023 to <strong>amend the Waqf Act, 1995, <\/strong>which governs the management of waqf properties in India.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It proposed significant changes<\/strong>, including increased government oversight of waqf properties and dispute resolution mechanisms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Following opposition criticism<\/strong>, the Bill was referred to a JPC (headed by BJP MP Jagadambika Pal), which reviewed 58 proposed amendments, accepting 14 and rejecting 44.<\/li>\n<li>The amendments cleared by the JPC, and now the Union Cabinet, <strong>address some of the most contentious parts of the Bill.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Key Amendments Approved by the JPC<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Extended time-frame for registration:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill <strong>initially <\/strong>required all waqf properties to be registered on a central portal within six months of the law&#8217;s enactment.<\/li>\n<li>The JPC accepted an amendment <strong>allowing an extension<\/strong> if the mutawalli (caretaker) provides a valid reason for the delay.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The Waqf Tribunal<\/strong> will have the power to grant such extensions, though no fixed timeline has been specified.<\/li>\n<li>Another amendment extends the deadline for waqfs to file legal proceedings even if not registered on the portal, <strong>provided an affidavit explaining the delay is submitted<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Role of district collector in dispute resolution:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The 2024 Bill <strong>originally <\/strong>transferred the power of determining government property claims from the Waqf Tribunal to the <strong>District Collector.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The JPC modified this provision, accepting amendments to <strong>replace the District Collector with a designated senior state government officer.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The so-called \u201cdesignated officer\u201d will be responsible for making necessary changes to the revenue records, if a property is deemed to be a government property and not a Waqf property.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Until a final decision is made<\/strong>, disputed property will continue to be treated as government property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Changes in Waqf Board representation:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The 2024 Bill proposed allowing a non-Muslim Chief Executive Officer, and at least two non-Muslim members to be appointed by the state government to the waqf boards at the state level.<\/li>\n<li>The JPC amended this, ensuring that the government official in the Board must be <strong>a Joint Secretary-level officer<\/strong> dealing with Waqf matters.<\/li>\n<li>Another amendment mandates the inclusion of a member in the Waqf <strong>Tribunal <\/strong>with <strong>expertise in Muslim law and jurisprudence.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The previous version of the Waqf Bill proposed that the tribunal have a sitting or retired district judge (as chairperson), and a Joint Secretary-level officer of the state government (as a member).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The amendments <strong>aim to balance government oversight with waqf autonomy,<\/strong> addressing concerns regarding property disputes, legal recourse, and representation on waqf boards.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The revised Bill is expected to be debated in Parliament soon, where <strong>further discussions may shape its final implementation.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> What are the key objectives of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The Bill aims to enhance government oversight of waqf properties, establish a central registration portal, and revise dispute resolution mechanisms.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2. <\/strong>How does the Waqf (Amendment) Bill modify the role of the District Collector in waqf property disputes?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The JPC-approved amendment replaces the District Collector with a senior state government officer for determining government property claims related to waqf land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3. <\/strong>What provisions have been introduced regarding the registration of waqf properties?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The Waqf (Amendment) Bill mandates registration on a central portal within six months but allows waqfs to seek extensions from the Waqf Tribunal if they provide valid reasons.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> How has the composition of Waqf Boards been altered in the 2024 Bill?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> The amendment ensures that the government representative in the Waqf Board is a Joint Secretary-level officer dealing with waqf matters.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5. <\/strong>What major concerns were raised regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, and how were they addressed?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans.<\/strong> Concerns included excessive government control and restrictions on legal recourse, which were partially addressed by extending registration timelines and modifying dispute resolution authority.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-law\/explained-all-you-need-to-know-about-changes-proposed-to-waqf-bill-by-jpc-now-cleared-by-cabinet-9862122\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Union Cabinet has approved all 14 amendments proposed by the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":45166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-45165","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}