The Supreme Court on Thursday heard a bunch of pleas on the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Act and stayed the operation of certain parts of the Waqf law, including the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Waqf boards and council, till the next date of hearing on May 5. The apex court said that the 'waqf by user' provision should not be denotified till then.
During the hearing of the matter, the Supreme Court on Thursday recorded the Centre's request for additional time to file a response in the matter related to the Waqf Act.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, said that a preliminary reply will be filed within seven days, along with relevant documents.
Apart from this, the Supreme Court took note of the Solicitor General's assurance that no appointments to the Waqf Board or Council will be made until the next hearing and stated that existing Waqf properties, including those registered by the user or declared through notification, will not be identified.
The Solicitor General said that the Waqf Act is a considered piece of legislation and that the Centre has received a large number of representations regarding the classification of land as Waqf. He added that staying the entire Act would be a severe step and sought one week to submit a reply.
The Supreme Court stated that it had earlier noted some aspects of the legislation as positive and reiterated that there can be no complete stay of the Act at this stage. The court also said that it does not want the current status to be altered while the matter is under its consideration.
The Supreme Court reiterated that the objective is to maintain the existing situation without changes while the matter remains under judicial review.
Earlier on Wednesday, following a two-hour-long hearing, the apex court indicated that it may stay certain key provisions of the Act, including the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards, powers of Collectors on deciding disputes over Waqf properties and provisions on de-notifying properties declared as Waqf by courts.
The top court was about to dictate the order, but Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, and other counsels who were appearing for parties defending the Act said they should be heard before passing the interim order.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan are hearing the case.
During the hearing on Wednesday, the Supreme Court bench had said that it was considering passing an interim order that would balance equities.
