Hearing the petitions filed against the Waqf Amendment Act 2025, the bench of CJI Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Christ said that any law passed by the Parliament has a notion of constitutionality and unless there is no concrete case in it, the courts cannot interfere in it. Apart from this, the court has limited the hearing to three issues to pass the interim order on the petitions.
Let me tell you that in this case in this case, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta is arguing in this case, while senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi are advocating the case on behalf of the petitioners.
Request to limit to three main issues
Significantly, as soon as the hearing begins, the court limited the hearing to three issues to pass the interim order on the petitions and said that at present, the appointment of non-Muslims in Waqf by user, Waqf Parishad and State Waqf boards and the identity of government land under Waqf should be maintained. On this, the Center assured that it will limit the hearing on these issues till the case is resolved.
Hearing cannot be held in pieces
During the hearing of the case, the Solicitor General said, ‘The court has identified three issues. We have already filed our reply on these three issues. However, the written arguments of the petitioners have now gone to many other issues. I have filed my affidavit in response to these three issues. I request that it be limited to only three issues. On the other hand, senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi, on behalf of those challenging the provisions of the Waqf Act, 2025, opposed the pleas that there could not be a hearing in different parts.
Sibal and Singhvi’s argument
Sibal said that the pieces cannot be heard. Therefore, all issues should be heard together. One issue is the right to non-reflecting the ‘Waqf, Waqf by user or Waqf by deed’ declared by the court. The second issue is to the structure of the State Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council, where they argue that except ex -officio members, only Muslims should work in it. The third issue is to a provision, stating that when the collectors investigate to find out whether the property is government land or not, the Waqf property will not be considered as Waqf. ”
Center protested against passing interim order
On April 17 last month, the Center assured the apex court that it would neither indulge in Waqf properties including ‘Waqf by user’ until 5 May, nor would he make any appointment in the Central Waqf Council and Boards. The Center had opposed the proposal of the apex court to pass an interim order against non-defrooting the Waqf properties, including ‘Waqf by user’, in addition to prohibiting the provision allowing non-Muslims to include non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Councils and Boards.
1,332 pages of initial affidavit filed
On April 25, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs filed an initial affidavit of 1,332 pages, defending the amended Waqf Act, 2025 and opposed any ‘complete restriction’ by the court on ‘law with the notion of constitutionality passed by Parliament’. The Center notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 last month, after which it was approved by President Draupadi Murmu on 5 April.
