The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider listing for an urgent hearing the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which was passed by Parliament and received Presidential assent last week.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan took note of senior advocate Kapil Sibal's submission, representing Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, that several petitions were pending and warranted immediate attention.
Besides Sibal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi and advocate Nizam Pasha also urged the court for an urgent listing of similar petitions. Pasha specifically mentioned the plea filed by Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi.
The Chief Justice, who has discontinued the practice of oral mentioning for urgent listing, advised the petitioners to file letters or send emails for the matter to be considered.
When Sibal informed the Bench that such a request had already been submitted, the CJI responded, “I will see the mentioning letter in the afternoon and take a call. We will list it.”
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, was passed by both Houses of Parliament amid heated debate and was given Presidential assent by Droupadi Murmu on Saturday.
Multiple petitions have since been filed challenging the Act's constitutional validity. These include pleas by Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, and AAP legislator Amanatullah Khan.
In its petition, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind stated that the law was a “direct attack on the country’s Constitution, which not only provides equal rights to its citizens but also grants them complete religious freedom.” The organisation further contended, “This bill is a dangerous conspiracy to strip Muslims of their religious freedom. Therefore, we have challenged the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, in the Supreme Court, and the state units of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind will also challenge the constitutional validity of this law in the high courts of their respective states.”
It added, “President of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, Maulana Arshad Madani, has not only challenged various provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act but has also filed an interim petition in court to prevent the law from coming into effect.”
Another petition has been filed by Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, a religious body of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics in Kerala. In its plea, submitted by advocate Zulfiker Ali P S, the group said the Act amounted to a “blatant intrusion into the rights of a religious denomination to manage its own affairs in the matter of religion,” as protected under Article 26 of the Constitution.
The organisation asserted that the amendments “would distort the religious character of Waqfs while also irreversibly damaging the democratic process in the administration of Waqf and Waqf Boards.”
It also claimed that the legislation was “against the federal principles of the Constitution” as it concentrated all powers related to Waqfs in the hands of the Central government, stripping states and State Waqf Boards of their authority.
“The cumulative effect of these provisions will be highly detrimental to Waqfs at large and the Muslim community will be deprived of large tract of Waqf properties on account of operation of these provisions,” the plea added.
Separately, the Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, an NGO, has also approached the apex court. Mohammad Jawed’s petition argued that the law imposed “arbitrary restrictions” on the management of Waqf properties, thereby undermining the Muslim community’s religious autonomy.
The petition, filed through advocate Anas Tanwir, further stated that the legislation discriminated against Muslims by “imposing restrictions that are not present in the governance of other religious endowments.”
In his individual plea, AIMIM chief Owaisi claimed the Bill removed protections granted to Waqfs that remained intact for Hindu, Jain, and Sikh endowments. “This diminishing of the protection given to Waqfs while retaining them for religious and charitable endowments of other religions constitutes hostile discrimination against Muslims and is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution, which prohibit discrimination on the grounds of religion,” the plea, filed by advocate Lzafeer Ahmad, stated.
Owaisi’s plea also alleged the amendments “irreversibly dilute” the statutory protection of Waqfs, giving “undue advantage” to interest groups and rolling back decades of institutional development.
In another petition, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan urged the court to declare the legislation “unconstitutional and being violative of Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution.”
The Supreme Court is expected to take a decision on listing the matter for hearing in the coming days.
Follow us
