SC to hear today batch of pleas challenging Waqf (Amendment) Act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act’s constitutional validity, weeks after the government paused two central aspects of the contentious law in the face of probing questions by the top court.

The Centre assured the apex court on April 17 that it would neither denotify waqf properties, including “waqf by user”, nor make any appointments to the Central Waqf Council and boards till May 5.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for Centre, made the assurance while informing a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan that the law, passed by Parliament with “due deliberations”, should not be stayed without hearing the government.

The Centre had also strongly opposed the apex court’s proposal to pass an interim order against the denotification of Waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’, aside from staying a provision allowing the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and boards.

The top court had noted the submissions of Mehta and said that waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’, already registered or declared by way of notification, shall not be disturbed and denotified till the next date of hearing. It had then granted a week’s time to the Centre to file a preliminary response to the pleas challenging the validity of the law and posted the matter on May 5.

The three-judge bench of the Supreme Court will hear on Monday the batch of five petitions which are now titled In Re the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and other related fresh pleas on the issue. The batch of pleas include the one filed by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asadudding Owaisi.

In its affidavit on April 25, the Centre defended the amended Act and opposed any “blanket stay” by the court on a “law having presumption of constitutionality passed by Parliament”. Justifying a provision on “waqf by user” properties, it said any interference would create a “legislative regime by a judicial order”.

Waqf by user refers to a practice where a property is recognised as a religious or charitable endowment (waqf) based on its long-term, uninterrupted use for such purposes, even if there isn’t a formal and written declaration of waqf by the owner.

In a 1,332-page preliminary counter-affidavit, the Ministry of Minority Affairs referred to the provisions of the old waqf laws and said the registration of waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’, has been mandatory since 1923.

The government said the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, respects the essential religious practices of Muslims by leaving matters of faith and worship “untouched”.