Waqf Act SC hearing: No interim order as of now, court to reconvene tomorrow at 2 PM

Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajeev Dhawan, and CU Singh, are among lawyers representing the petitioners in the Waqf (Amendment) Act hearing.

BJP leader Jagdambika Pal said that the court has the right to review the legal validity and relevance of any law on the basis of three parameters.

"...first whether there is legal competence, the Bill was passed after proper consultation, discussion, so legal competence cannot be questioned. The second is whether it was done arbitrarily. The amendment was not done through ordinance, there was discussion, then it was passed by the Parliament," he told news agency PTI.

Pal added, "The third is whether the law violated the Constitution, the violation was done in 2013, when Manmohan Singh government had done amendment and added Section 40, it gave unlimited power to Waqf Board, we have rectified it."

BJP leader Jagdambika Pal told news agency PTI that the opposition parties are in a race to file petitions, noting that almost 20 pleas have been filed so far.

"It is clear that they have not gone against the law, but they are showing to Muslims, understanding that they are their vote bank, that they are pursuing their case. RJD's Manoj Jha has also filed a petition, when he is not a stakeholder," he added.

Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing of the pleas challenging the Waqf amendment act, Indian Secular Front MLA Nawsad Siddique termed the law as an "attack on federal structure".

"We just want justice. The Waqf (Amendment) act which has been brought is not just attack on Muslims but on several articles of Constitution also. It is an attack on federal structure. We have come to the highest court for the sake of our rights, justice, and rights of the state… We filed an RTI to know about the land under Waqf board. In the reply, it was written that 70,000 bigha land is enrolled under Waqf board," Siddique told news agency PTI.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the families of those killed in the Murshidabad violence, which erupted during the protests over the Waqf amendment act.

"I will ask Chief Secretary to get a report on it. The families of those who lost their lives in the violence will get ₹10 lakh each. We don't see the religious identity of victims but their pain. Those who lost their houses will get Banglar Bari (a house scheme funded entirely by her government). For those whose shops were damaged, the Chief Secretary will take estimates and get the work done for them," CM Mamata said.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi not to implement the "atrocious" Waqf amendment act and requested him to keep the Union home ministry, headed by Amit Shah, under control.

"I would request the Prime Minister to keep a check on Amit Shah, he is doing harm to the nation to serve his own political agenda," she said.

The violence that erupted in West Bengal's Murshidabad over the protests against the Waqf amendment act, chief minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that the riots were "pre-planned".

She also accused a section of the BSF, central agencies, and the BJP of fanning tension by allegedly facilitating cross-border influx from Bangladesh.

Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing on the pleas challenging the validity of the Waqf amendment act, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said that there are still many draconian provisions which have been left in amendment exercise, adding that those have been challenged.

"We had to say that there are many provisions of Waqf Act, 1995, which should completely go. The first situation is, there is a batch of petitions challenging Waqf (Amendment) Act, if a situation develops, as they have asked for stay, then the earlier provisions, will be implemented, we said that those provisions should also be stayed as they are draconian," Jain told news agency PTI.

The advocate further said, "There are many draconian provisions which have been still left in amendment exercise, we have challenged it, like there is a word- person aggrieved, which includes non-Muslims, they have the obligation to challenge it in Waqf Tribunal, if they have lost their land, we have challenged it. We demanded that every case should go to civil court, there is a provision to give notice for filing case in Section 89, we have challenged it."

In an all-out attack on the Centre, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee asked as to why the union government was so hurried about the Waqf amendment act.

"I want to challenge and tell the Government of India - why were you so hurried about the Waqf Amendment? Didn't you know the situation in Bangladesh? Bengal shares a border with Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan. I will be happy if it brings good to the country. But what is their plan? To engage in riots by using certain agencies that facilitate movement of people from there? I saw a tweet yesterday quoting Home Ministry sources that Bangladesh is involved in this. If that is the case, the Central government is responsible since BSF guards the borders, not us," CM Mamata Banerjee said.

"State government doesn't have the responsibility to guard the borders. Why did they allow BJP thugs from outside to come and create chaos before fleeing the scene? Accountability must be fixed. They want to polarise and divide Hindus and Muslims. Don't divide the country; unite all instead," she stressed further.

Amid the ongoing row over violence following protests against the Waqf amendment act, the BJP on Wednesday alleged that Hindus are victims of targeted attacks in West Bengal, adding that police gave agitators "free" rein, as it hit out at chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad hit out at Banerjee, asking if her government has become completely insensitive towards basic human values.

"How low will you (Banerjee) stoop for vote bank... It is unacceptable," he said, and cited the "Maa, Mati, Manush" slogan of the Trinamool Congress leader to claim that she is worried about neither Maa (mothers) or Manush (people).

At her meeting with Imams in Kolkata over the increasing protests against the Waqf amendment act, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that everyone should respect all religions.

"I talk about all religions. Where does BJP go when we renovate Kaali Temple? When we celebrate Durga Puja, they say we don't let people celebrate here. Saraswati Puja is celebrated in every household, and they say we don't let this happen. Everyone should respect all religions, this is our tradition," she said.

Amid the growing protests over the Waqf amendment act and last week's Murshidabad violence, BJP MLA Shankar Ghosh on Wednesday claimed that "Hindus are not safe in West Bengal."

"We were saying again and again that an anti-Hindu Government has come to power in our state. Mamata Banerjee, in her conduct of becoming even more Muslim than the real Muslims, wants to sacrifice Hindus," he added.

At the meeting with Imams in Kolkata, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the Waqf amendment act is "against the federal structure of the country".

In a meeting with the Imams in Kolkata, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee rejected claims of her party, Trinamool Congress's involvement in the violence that erupted in Murshidabad during the protests over the Waqf amendment act.

She said, "Had TMC been involved in Waqf violence as claimed by the opposition, houses of its leader would not have been attacked."

She further said that the TMC is at the forefront of the fight against Waqf law in the Parliament.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is holding a meeting with religious leaders and key figures of the Muslim community over the violence that erupted during the protests against the Waqf amendment act.

During the meeting with the Imams, Banerjee acknowledged that "some disturbances happened over the Waqf Act in some areas of the Murshidabad district".

Seven people have been arrested in connection with the protests against the Waqf amendment act, resulting in a clash between the protesters and police in Assam's Silchar.

The protest march was taken out on Sunday without permission from Berenga village towards Silchar when the agitators threw stones at the police, prompting them to resort to mild lathi charge, said Superintendent of Police Numal Mahatta.

Prohibitory orders were clamped in the district to prevent further outbreak of violence, Mahatta told reporters.

Several opposition leaders are opposing the Waqf amendment act, 2025. AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi, AAP leader Amanatullah Khan, YSRCP, Vijay's Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam, have all moved the top court, challenging the constitutional validity of the law.

SQR Ilyas, the AIMPLB spokesperson, said the petition strongly objected to the amendments passed by Parliament for being "arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion".

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Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that no protest against the Waqf act will be allowed in the state and suggested that the agitators present their side before the Supreme Court.

"The case is with the Supreme Court. If anyone has anything to say, please present it before the apex court as it can be properly discussed there. If someone hits the streets in Assam against the Waqf Act, then people will also hit the streets in support of the legislation. It will lead to a clash, which we don't want," Sarma told reporters.

He reminded that All Assam Minority Students' Union that if the organization opposes the law, then there are people who back it.

"We don't need any conflict. The brotherhood should be maintained for the progress of Assam. That's why we should be able to differentiate between good and bad. If anyone opposes the Waqf Act, I have nothing to say and I suggest him to go to the Supreme Court. Those who are supporting the Act should also go to the apex court. We went to the SC yesterday in support of the Act. But we will not allow anything to take place on the roads," Sarma said.

Amid the ongoing controversy over the Waqf amendment act, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray last week claimed that after targeting the Waqf properties, the Centre will now turn its attention towards lands held by temple trusts.

"You are eyeing Waqf land, but temple trusts, churches, and gurudwaras, too, have land. You may be eyeing us (lands of Hindu temples) as well. The bill was brought just for land. We have opposed this sham," Thackeray was quoted as saying by PTI.

Speaking at a press conference, Thackeray accused the BJP of using the Waqf Bill as a smokescreen for what he described as a land grab to benefit its industrialist friends.

"It's a ploy to take away (Waqf) land and give it to its industrialist friends," he said.

West Bengal's Murshidabad district was embroiled in violence last week amid the protests over the Waqf amendment act.

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday took a jibe at Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and said that the Hindus in the state are being crushed between two sides, rising Muslim fundamentalism and the "anti-Hindu rule".

Taking to social media, X, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya wrote, "The Hindus of West Bengal, once known as the 'Bhadralok' of the country, are being crushed between two sides. On one side is the challenge of Muslim fundamentalism and Bangladeshi infiltration and on the other side is the autocratic rule of Mamata Didi which is absolutely anti-Hindu."

"Earlier the leftists played the game of appeasement for the vote bank and welcomed the infiltrators like sons-in-law, now Didi has taken that appeasement to the extreme, one step ahead. This vote bank politics has not only spoiled the social equations but has also taken Bengal's 'demographic change' to dangerous levels. This 'ultra-rapid population change' under Didi's tutelage has ruined the state's resources, security system, and social fabric," the post reads.

The top court bench led by chief justice of India Sanjiv Khanna will hear the batch of pleas, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf amendment act, at 2 pm today.

Advocate Pradeep Yadav, representing a petitioner opposing the Waqf act, told ANI, "The petitions have been notified for 2 pm. The matter would be heard at 2 pm in the court of the Chief Justice. I am representing two people, we have two writ petitioners, one by Tayyab Ahmed Sulemani and the other by Anjum Qadri."

"Our argument on both writ petitions is that it should be admitted following which we have demanded interim stay. It means that there should be a stay on implementation," advocate Yadav added.

BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad raised three big questions to West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee ahead of her meeting with Muslim community leaders over the increasing protest against Waqf act.

He asked, "I want to raise some big questions for Mamata Banerjee. First, if women are being given a place in the Waqf Board, in the Centre, and in all the states, do you have a problem with that? Second, if backward Muslims are getting representation in the Waqf Board, do you have a problem with that?"

"Third, if accountability and honesty are being fixed in the case of the lands of poor Muslims being snatched illegally in the name of Waqf, do you have a problem with that? Mamata Banerjee, please answer these big questions," he said during a press conference.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is set to hold a meeting regarding the increasing protests against the Waqf Amendment Act.

Muslim clerics and religious leaders of the Muslim community were seen arriving at the Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata to attend the meeting.

Ahead of the SC hearing on the Waqf amendment act, advocate Barun Kumar Sinha said that their pleas argue that the act is in absolute consonance with the Constitution of India, adding that "nobody's fundamental right has been violated".

"On behalf of Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta, I have filed intervention application in one of the petitions. In that, we have prayed that the amendment which has been brought in in Waqf Act 1995 is absolutely in consonance with the Constitution of India. Nobody's fundamental right has been violated. This amendment has been brought after the Govt of India carried out a very deep study on the complaints received from various parts of the country," he told ANI.

"Thereafter, this amendment was necessitated and then it has been brought in. So, the draconian provisions of Waqf Act 1995 have been amended. Those amendments are absolutely in the teeth of the Constitutional provisions. So, nobody's fundamental right has been violated. So, we are challenging the very locus standi of the petitioners because these petitioners belong to some of the political parties and those political parties have brought in these writ petitions. So, we will bring in all these facts before the Supreme Court and oppose any interim prayer made by these petitioners before the Supreme Court," he added.

Ahead of the Supreme Court hearing of the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf amendment act, Congress national spokesperson Atul Londhe Patil told news agency ANI that the law "is an attempt to grab land anyhow".

"These are unconstitutional amendments...This is an attempt to grab land anyhow. It is Waqf land today, it will be churches' land tomorrow, they have already interfered with temples and mutts...All the lies that were said through this Bill and the attempts to mislead, people have noticed this Hindu-Muslim politics and they have understood," he said.

Patil further said, "So, out of fear, attempts have been made to scare Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Congress. They should understand that nobody is going to be scared of this."