Parliamentarians have moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 hours after it passed Parliament’s scrutiny by a slim majority garnering 288-232 votes (1 abstained) in the Lok Sabha and 128-95 votes (no abstentions) in the Rajya Sabha.
The Bill is now awaiting the Presidential nod to become an Act.
For now, at least two petitions have been filed by Congress leader Mohammed Jawed and AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi. However, sources suggest there are more in the pipeline.
The parliament in its budget session passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill after marathon debates lasting more than 12 hours before both houses. Over two days, parliamentarians burnt the midnight oil—literally and figuratively—as it voted on the bill in the early hours of the mornings in the last week of the Budget Session.
Criticising the bill, Congress leader Mohammed Jawed said that the new act imposes arbitrary restrictions on Waqf properties and its management thereby undermining the religious autonomy of the Muslim community. In his plea, Owaisi contended that while the 1995 Waqf Act represented an organic process of evolution whereby Islamic law came to be recognised and protected, the Amended Act marks a departure from affording greater protections to the rights of the Muslim community and charts a new course of diluting the protections to waqfs and expanding State interference over its administration.
BOOM breaks down what the Waqf Bill is and what we know so far.
What is the Waqf Bill, and what does it change?
A “waqf” means any movable or immovable property that has been dedicated for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable. These include the maintenance of mosques and graveyards, establishment of educational institutions and healthcare facilities, and providing financial aid to the disadvantaged (poor and disabled).
Ownership of such properties is implied to be with God and is managed by a board called the Waqf Board.
The new bill allows a waqf to be formed by declaration, recognition based on long-term use (waqf by user), or endowment when the line of succession ends. Only Muslims, who have been practicing for more than five years can dedicate their property to waqf. However, women must receive their inheritance rights before the property is dedicated to waqf. Special provisions have been made for widows, divorced women and orphans.
A property will cease to be waqf if it is identified as government land or the land is disputed till such time a senior official – the district collector, surveys the land and presents a report with the findings. The District Collector’s decision will be final.
If the property is deemed to be government property, the district collector will update the revenue records accordingly. The waqf boards are mandated to register their land records on a central portal. The government can also order an audit of Waqf accounts by the Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) or a designated officer.
The new bill also de-recognises “waqf by user”. Most significantly, the new bill also omits Section 40 that allowed Waqf boards to arbitrarily declare any property as Waqf.
This is significant because according to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s speech in the Parliament, the Waqf Board holds almost 39 lakh acres in combined land holdings or as much as 5% of the country. Earlier government data had pegged almost 8.72 lakh properties, over an area of 9.4 lakh acres under Waqf Board control.
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How will the Bill affect the management?
The amended bill allows for the inclusion and appointment of women and non-Muslims to key Waqf institutions which include Central Waqf Council, State Waqf Boards, and Waqf tribunals.
A waqf board must have two non-Muslim members and among the Muslim members, two must be women. The Bill also allows the appointment of non-Muslim MPs, ex-judges, and eminent persons on the Council. Under the 1995, these members had to be Muslim.
The 1995 Act provided for the election of up to two Muslim members each: MPs, MLAs and MLCs, and Bar Council members, to the Board. However, the new bill empowers the state to nominate one person from each of the above groups to the Board. They can be non-muslims too.
Apart from the two non-Muslim members, the board must also include at least one member each from Shias, Sunnis, and Backward classes of Muslims.
What changes have been made to the Waqf tribunal and its reach?
Under the new bill, a waqf tribual is no longer the sole authority on what is considered to be a waqf property. In cases of dispute where government land is concerned, the final decision lies with the district collector.
The bill also amends the composition of the tribunal to now include: a current or ex-District Court judge as its chairman, and serving or ex-officer of the rank joint secretary to the state government. Under the bill, a Muslim expert is no longer on the board.
A tribunal’s decision is no longer final. Unlike the 1995 Act, under the new bill a tribunal’s decision can be challenged before the high court within 90 days.
Also Read: No, The Waqf Board Hasn't Claimed Mumbai's Siddhivinayak Temple Land
What is the criticism to the bill?
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025—more formally known as the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development (Umeed) Act, 2025—was hotly contested in the parliament and saw marathon debates in both houses.
According to the Opposition, the bill allows for government interference and interferes with a minority’s rights to handle their own affairs.
The amendments “irreversibly dilute the statutory protections afforded to waqfs and their regulatory framework while conferring undue advantage upon other stakeholders and interest groups, undermining years of progress and setting back waqf management by several decades,” Asaduddin Owaisi’s plea before the Supreme Court read.
Derecognition of ‘Waqf by User’ and oral dedications, restriction on who can create a Waqf, Inclusion of non-mumslims on the board are some of the key amendments that have been challenged in the Supreme Court.
