New Delhi: Political parties on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s order on the new Waqf law with the Opposition including the Congress saying it has put on hold controversial clauses that “infringed” on the rights of Muslims and the BJP contending that the court has upheld the constitutionality of the law by not staying it.
Prominent Muslim bodies also welcomed the apex court order expressing hope of getting “complete justice” in the matter once the final verdict is pronounced.
Both the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and the All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) termed the order a welcome step, even as the former said it expected the top court to stay the entire law, and not just certain key provisions.
The AIMPLB also expressed dissatisfaction over the top court’s refusal to stay the entire law saying it leaves “numerous harmful provisions” in operation.
The Supreme Court on Monday put on hold several key provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 including the clause that only those practising Islam for the last five years can dedicate a property as Waqf, but refused to stay the entire law outlining the presumption of constitutionality in its favour.
“Presumption is always in favour of constitutionality of a statute and intervention (can be done) only in the rarest of rare cases,” a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said in its 128-page interim order on the contentious issue.
Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju welcomed the interim order on the law, saying it was a very good sign for democracy.
“I believe that whatever the apex court has ruled is a very good sign for our democracy,” Rijiju told reporters in Mumbai.
“The provisions in the Act are beneficial to the entire Muslim community,” he said.
The BJP welcomed the apex court’s order and said it sends out a message to those who were playing “politics of fear” and building a “negative narrative” that the amendments made in the Waqf law “constitutionally correct”.
The Congress termed the court’s decision as a win for constitutional values of justice, equality and fraternity, while asserting that it goes a long way towards undoing the “mischievous intentions” underlying the original statute.
Welcoming the order, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said it is a major step towards “undoing the unconstitutional and illegal amendments made by the BJP government”.
Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah said it is a good development. “We have been saying from day one that the bill was targeting followers of a single religion. It is reassuring that the Supreme Court has understood this issue.”
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi said the top court has given an interim order on the Waqf (Amendment) Act and hoped that it would soon pass its verdict on the whole legislation itself.