{"id":45838,"date":"2025-04-17T13:21:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T07:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=45838"},"modified":"2025-05-17T14:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-05-17T09:12:20","slug":"supreme-court-flags-key-issues-in-waqf-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/supreme-court-flags-key-issues-in-waqf-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Supreme Court Flags Key Issues in Waqf Law Amid Rising Legal and Social Debate"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in Today\u2019s Article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Waqf Law Latest News<\/li>\n<li>Supreme Court\u2019s Intervention in Waqf Law:<\/li>\n<li>Key Aspects Challenged in the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025<\/li>\n<li>Judicial Observations and Proposed Interim Relief<\/li>\n<li>Petitioners\u2019 Concerns<\/li>\n<li>Government\u2019s Stand<\/li>\n<li>Waqf Law FAQs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Waqf Law Latest News<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Supreme Court has questioned certain provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Supreme Court\u2019s Intervention in Waqf Law<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In a landmark development, the Supreme Court of India has taken a critical view of the recently enacted <a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/upsc-exam\/waqf-amendment-act-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025<\/strong><\/a>, as it heard over 100 petitions questioning its constitutional validity.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The Chief Justice of India, <strong>Sanjiv Khanna<\/strong>, along with Justices P.V. Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, raised concerns over three specific provisions that have potential to disrupt the long-standing waqf structure in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Key Aspects Challenged in the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The apex court flagged <strong>three significant elements<\/strong> in the amended legislation:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Waqf-by-user Denotification:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The 2025 Act eliminates the legal recognition of waqf-by-user properties, those in use for religious or charitable purposes for centuries but not formally registered.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Petitioners argued that this change could instantly erase the legal existence of nearly <strong>4 lakh out of 8 lakh waqf properties<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Non-Muslims in Waqf Bodies:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Act allows non-Muslims to serve as ex-officio members of the <strong>Central Waqf Council<\/strong> and <strong>State Waqf Boards<\/strong>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The court expressed concerns about this move, questioning whether religious institutions can be governed by individuals from outside the faith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Collector\u2019s Determination of Property Status:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The amended law permits District Collectors to determine if a property is waqf or government land.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>The court warned that allowing a government officer to act as a judge in such matters could violate due process and raise issues of conflict of interest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Judicial Observations and Proposed Interim Relief<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>CJI Khanna emphasized that the court normally does not stay legislative enactments unless the situation is exceptional.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>However, he observed that <strong>this case qualifies as an exception<\/strong> due to the wide-ranging implications of the amendments.<\/li>\n<li>In an effort to <strong>balance equities<\/strong>, the <strong>Chief Justice proposed a three-point interim order<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Properties already judicially declared as waqf, including waqf-by-user, should not be denotified for the time being.<\/li>\n<li>While the government officer may investigate the nature of land ownership, the status of such properties should <strong>not be changed<\/strong> until judicial review is complete.<\/li>\n<li>Appointment of non-Muslims to waqf bodies may continue, provided a majority of members remain Muslims.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>No formal order was passed as Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought more time for the government to present its arguments. The matter has been posted for further hearing.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Petitioners\u2019 Concerns<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Petitioners argued that the new provisions violate <strong>Article 26 of the Constitution<\/strong>, which guarantees the right of religious denominations to manage their own affairs.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>On Waqf-by-user:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Petitioners noted that the concept has been recognized in the <strong>Ayodhya judgment<\/strong>, and its sudden removal would result in mass dispossession of properties traditionally maintained by the Muslim community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>On Religious Autonomy:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Petitioners highlighted that forcing a Muslim donor to \u201cprove\u201d religious practice before dedicating a waqf is a <strong>parliamentary overreach<\/strong> into religious autonomy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>On Historical Continuity:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Justice Khanna pointed out the historical fact that many mosques and waqf properties predate British rule and land registration systems.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, requiring registered deeds from centuries ago is unreasonable.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Government\u2019s Stand<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defended the law, stating that:\n<ul>\n<li>Registration of all waqfs, including waqf-by-user, has been mandatory since the 1923 Act.<\/li>\n<li>Non-Muslim inclusion in waqf bodies is limited to <strong>two ex-officio positions out of 22<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The Collector\u2019s power is procedural and temporary until judicial confirmation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>However, the bench remained unconvinced on several points, especially concerning the <strong>impact on religious rights and property access<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Waqf Law FAQs<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Q1.<\/strong> What is waqf-by-user?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>Waqf-by-user refers to land used for religious or charitable Islamic purposes for a long period without formal registration.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q2.<\/strong> What change did the 2025 Waqf Act introduce regarding waqf-by-user?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The Act derecognized waqf-by-user, meaning such properties are no longer legally considered waqf unless registered.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q3.<\/strong> Why is the Collector\u2019s role controversial in the new Act?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The Collector can now determine whether land is waqf or government property, raising concerns of executive overreach.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q4.<\/strong> What is the issue with non-Muslims on waqf boards?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>The inclusion of non-Muslims as members of Waqf Boards has sparked debate on religious autonomy and secularism.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Q5.<\/strong> Has the Supreme Court stayed the new waqf law?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ans. <\/strong>No stay has been issued yet; the matter is under judicial review, and the next hearing is awaited.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/can-muslims-be-members-in-hindu-endowments-supreme-court-asks-centre-in-waqf-law-challenge\/article69457169.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/supreme-court-waqf-law-9948142\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SC reviews 2025 Waqf Act amid 100+ petitions, probing waqf-by-user denotification, non-Muslim board inclusion, and expanded Collector powers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46210,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[285],"class_list":{"0":"post-45838","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-supreme-court-on-waqf-law","9":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45838","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=45838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}