New Delhi:
The Supreme Court filed a new petition challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, claiming that it was a “clear infiltration” in the rights of a religious sect to manage its own matters in the case of religion.
President Draupadi Murmu on Saturday gave his consent on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, which was first passed by Parliament after a hot debate in both houses.
Several petitions have been filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill.
The latest petition has been filed in Kerala by Samastha Kerala Jamithul Ulema, a religious organization of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics.
Advocate Zulfikar Ali PS filed through PS said that these amendments would distort the religious character of Waqf, while Waqf and Waqf also damage the democratic process in the administration of the boards.
“Therefore, it has been introduced that the 2025 Act is an intrusion into the rights of an religious sect to manage its own matters in the case of religion, protected under Article 26 of the Constitution of India,” the petition said.
It alleged that the 2025 Act was against the federal principles of the Constitution as it takes away all the powers of the state governments and the state Waqf boards and accumulates all the powers in relation to the Waqf in the hands of the central government.
“The cumulative effects of these provisions will be highly harmful to the Waqf and the Muslim community will be deprived of a large path of Waqf properties due to the operation of these provisions,” the petition said.
Several arguments including Congress MP Mohammad K, AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan were filed in the apex court challenging the validity of the bill.
Apart from him, an NGO – Association for the Protection of the Civil Rights – has also filed a petition in the apex court, which challenges the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025.
Mr. Jod’s petition alleged that the bill imposed a “arbitrary sanctions” on Waqf properties and their management, reducing the religious autonomy of the Muslim community.
The petition filed through advocate Anas Tanavir said that the proposed law “implemented restrictions that are not present under the rule of other religious arrangements”.
The bill was passed with voting in favor of 128 members in the Rajya Sabha and opposing 95. It was passed with 288 members in the Lok Sabha and was supported and 232 against it.
The Lok Sabha member of Bihar’s Kindhngj Jowud, who was a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the bill, alleged in his petition that the bill “introduces the restrictions on the construction of Waqf based on the duration of someone’s religious practice”.
In his separate argument, an Owani said that the bill takes away from the vaqf separate security, which consider Waqf and Hindus, Jains and Sikh religious and charitable arrangements equally.
Owissi’s argument said, “This decreases the protection given to Waqf, maintaining them for religious and charitable arrangements of other religions, which forms hostile discrimination against Muslims and violates Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prevents discrimination based on religion.”
The plea argued that the amendment “irreversibly thin” statutory protection said the Waqf and their regulatory structure, giving “unfair advantage” to other stakeholders and interest groups, reducing years of progress and pushing Waqf management back for several decades.
In his separate petition, Amnatullah Khan has demanded that the Waqf (Amendment) bill be “unconstitutional and articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A. as a violation of the Constitution”.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by NDTV employees and is published by a syndicated feed.)
