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Rajya Sabha passes Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025 a day after Lok Sabha nod
Rajya Sabha also saw a fiery debate on the Waqf bill, with arguements from both the treasury and opposition benches going well past midnight.
Rajya Sabha on Friday passed the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 after a fiery debate on the issue. The debate, which began on Thursday afternoon, went well past midnight.
128 members voted for the bill while 95 members voted against it, chairman Jagdeep Dhankar said, while adding that the final numbers were subject to correction. The debate on the bill lasted for more than 12 hours.
With the upper house passing the bill, it has now officially got the approval of the Parliament and will now go to the President of India for her final assent before becoming a law. The Mussalman Wakf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 has also been passed in the Rajya Sabha by a voice vote.
Earlier on Thursday, the Lok Sabha had given the nod to the bill after a similarly long debate. While the Narendra Modi government has repeatedly defended the bill, the opposition has termed it ‘unconstitutional’ and an ‘attack on religious freedom’.
Union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju moved the motion in Rajya Sabha for consideration of the bill on Thursday afternoon, a day after defending it in the lower house.
The union government brought the revised Waqf bill after JPC approval
The government introduced the revised Waqf (Amendment) bill 2025 in the ongoing budget session after incorporating the recommendations of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC). The committee examined the legislation introduced in August last year and gave its recommendations. The bill seeks to amend the Act of 1995 and improve the administration and management of waqf properties in India.
It aims to overcome the shortcomings of the previous act and enhance the efficiency of Waqf boards, improving the registration process and increasing the role of technology in managing Waqf records.
"When the Waqf Amendment bill was first drafted and the bill that we are passing now, there are a lot of changes. The bill would have been completely different if we had not accepted anyone's suggestions," ANI quoted Kiren Rijiju as saying in his reply to the debate on the bill on Friday..
