SC Gives Centre One Week to Respond on Waqf Act Validity, Puts Hold on Changes to ‘Waqf by User’

The Supreme Court on Thursday granted the Centre a week’s time to file its response to a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan recorded the Centre’s assurance that, until the next hearing, there will be no denotification or alteration in the character of any waqf properties—including those designated as ‘waqf by user’—whether registered, notified, or declared through court orders. The government also assured the court that no fresh appointments would be made to the Central Waqf Council or state Waqf Boards during this period.

The court fixed the next hearing for the week beginning May 5, by which time responses from the Centre, concerned states, and petitioners must be submitted. The bench directed petitioners to nominate five lead cases to be heard under the common title “In Re: Waqf Amendment Act, 2025.”

The bench also segregated earlier petitions filed by Hindu groups challenging the Waqf Acts of 1995 and 2013 from the current proceedings.

On Wednesday, the court raised concerns over specific provisions in the amended law. These included the treatment of ‘waqf by user’ properties previously declared by courts, the alleged underrepresentation of non-Muslim members in Waqf bodies, and restrictions on treating disputed government plots as waqf land.

“We will say that whichever properties have been declared by the court to be Waqf or held to be Waqf will not be de-notified as Waqfs or be treated as non-Waqf properties, whether they are by waqf-by-user or waqf-by-declaration or otherwise,” the bench stated on April 16.

CJI Khanna remarked that the government “cannot rewrite history” through legislative amendments that potentially reverse long-standing judicial declarations of waqf status.

Who Are the Petitioners?

Among the petitioners challenging the 2025 amendment are AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, Anjum Kadari, Arshad Madani, and RJD MP Manoj Jha.

Others include former Andhra Pradesh CM Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSRCP, the CPI, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief and actor Vijay, AIMPLB, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, DMK, and Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed.