New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that it would refrain from appointing non-Muslims to the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Boards and would not de-notify existing waqf properties—including those declared waqf by courts—for the time being.
The Court recorded this assurance and scheduled the next hearing on the matter for May 5, 2025, as reported by Bar and Bench.
The government’s stand, delivered by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, came amidst an avalanche of more than 70 petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the new law. At the heart of the legal storm are concerns over the potential erasure of centuries-old Islamic religious sites and the unprecedented inclusion of non-Muslims in waqf administrative bodies, moves critics allege infringe on the community’s constitutional rights.
“No appointment shall take place to boards and councils under the 2025 Act until the next hearing,” the Court noted, quoting SG Mehta. “Waqfs already declared by notification or court ruling shall not be disturbed.”
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, with Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan, stopped short of issuing a formal stay but emphasized that the status quo on waqf properties must be maintained. To streamline proceedings, the Court directed that only five counsels from among the petitioners will be allowed to present arguments on the next date. All remaining petitions will be treated as applications within these five, signalling the Court’s effort to avoid prolonged, fragmented litigation.
In a move highlighting the significance of the case, the Bench also ruled that the matter would henceforth be titled “In Re: Waqf Amendment Act”, detaching it from any individual petitioner’s name. Both parties have been asked to nominate nodal counsels to coordinate further filings and communication with the Court.
The Centre strongly opposed the apex court’s proposal to pass an interim order against the denotification of waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’, aside from staying a provision allowing the inclusion of non-Muslims in the central waqf councils and boards.
“During the course of hearing, the solicitor general states that the respondent (Union of India) would like to put in a short response within seven days. He further states and assures that till the next date of hearing, no appointments will be made to the council and boards under sections 9 and 14 (of the Act),” the bench said.
The bench noted Mehta, appearing for the Centre, has also said that till the next date of hearing, waqf properties, including ‘waqf by user’ already registered or declared by way of notification, shall not be disturbed and denotified.
The bench then granted a week’s time to the Centre to file a preliminary response to the pleas challenging the validity of the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and posted the matter on May 5.
“If your lordships will say something about ‘waqf by user’, what will be the fallout?” Mehta said.
He added, “We, as a government, and Parliament, are answerable to the people.”
The CJI said if the registration of any waqf property had taken place under the erstwhile 1995 Act, then those properties can’t be denotified till further hearing.
The apex court, while hearing the matter on Wednesday, proposed to stay certain key provisions of the Act, including the power to denotify properties declared as waqf by courts and inclusion of non-Muslims in central waqf council and boards.
On Thursday, Mehta asked whether the court might consider staying, directly or indirectly, the Act based upon some prima facie or tentative reading of some of the sections.
“If your lordships are going to stay a statutory provision,” Mehta said, “it by itself is rare. We will have to take your lordships to the history of legislation, followed by amendment”.
He said the government received several representations, which ultimately resulted in the amended Act.
Opposing the stay, the law officer referred to certain instances and said private properties were usurped as waqf in several places.
Terming it a “considered piece of legislation”, Mehta said the pleas were filed before the Presidential assent and taken immediately by the bench.
“We are not deciding the matter finally,” the bench said.
Mehta argued that staying the provisions of the Act may be a “harsh step” and said the government should be allowed to place its preliminary reply.
“Allow me to place within a week my preliminary reply with some materials, documents and statutes to show,” he said, “and in one week, nothing will change”.
The CJI said, “We don’t want the position to change. Parliament makes laws, the executive decides and the judiciary interprets.”
The bench has also decided to hear only five of the total number of pleas before it and titled the case: “In Re: Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025”.
About 72 petitions, including those by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Anwar Basha former chairman Karnataka State Board of AUQAF represented by advocate Tariq Ahmed, Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed, were filed against the law.
Senior counsel including Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Singhvi, Huzefa Ahmadi appear for the petitioners in the case.
While appointing three lawyers as the nodal counsel on Thursday, the bench asked the advocates to decide among themselves who was going to argue.
The petitioners were allowed to file their rejoinders to the Centre’s reply within five days of the service of the government’s response.
“We clarify that the next hearing (May 5) will be for the preliminary objections and for an interim order,” the bench said.
The bench said a writ petition challenging the 1995 Waqf Act and the amendment made in 2013 should be separately shown in the causelist.
