Supreme Court's Ruling on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025
The Supreme Court of India has taken a significant step by staying certain provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which it found "prima facie arbitrary". The court, however, did not strike down the entire legislation, acknowledging the presumption that parliamentary acts are constitutional and intended for public benefit.
Main Provisions Stayed
- Duration of Islamic Practice:
- The Act required a person intending to create a waqf to prove that they had been practicing Islam for at least five years.
- The court found the lack of a mechanism to verify this duration arbitrary and directed its suspension until a suitable procedure is established.
- Property Title Determination:
- A proviso in Section 3C allowed a waqf to lose its character with just a claim that it was government property.
- The court emphasized that property title determination is a judicial function, not executive, and stayed parts of Section 3C that permitted unilateral alteration of waqf records by state authorities.
Additional Directions
- Until the Waqf Tribunal decides on the ownership of a waqf property, neither the waqf will be dispossessed, nor records altered.
- To safeguard government properties, Mutawallis are prohibited from creating third-party rights until the competent tribunal resolves the property status.
Administrative Composition and Issues
- The Central Waqf Council should comprise no more than four non-Muslims out of 22 members, while State Waqf Boards should have no more than three non-Muslims out of 11 members.
- Chief Executive Officers of State Waqf Boards should preferably be from the Muslim community.
Registration of Waqfs
- The court did not favor the petitioners' arguments against mandatory waqf registration.
- Since 1923, registration has been a requirement, and lack of registration cannot justify continued operation of an unregistered waqf.
Waqf Properties as Protected Monuments
- Arguments that waqf properties lose status if notified as protected monuments were rejected.
- Section 5(6) of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, allows customary religious practices to continue even in protected areas.
Tribal Land and Waqf Declaration
- The Act's restriction on tribal community members from donating land as waqfs was addressed.
- The Joint Parliamentary Committee noted that waqf declarations in tribal areas pose a cultural threat to these minorities.