Waqf Amendment Act hearing: Centre assures Supreme Court that no waqf by user property will be denotified

Daya Singh, a Sikh petitioner against the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, said that the council should have been based on the SGPC.

“If the government wanted to give common Muslim representation in Waqf, then they should have made the Act on the basis of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee. However, they are trying to polarise Hindus with the Waqf Act. We have come forward to stop their attempt at polarisation,” PTI quoted the petitioner as saying.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) spokesperson Syed Qasim Rasool Ilyas has termed the Supreme Court's interim order ‘very big relief’

"The Supreme Court has given two decisions today. The first decision is that there will be a change in the status of properties used, notified as Waqf. This is a very big relief. We were apprehensive that we would lose several properties through rider of Waqf by user that they had imposed. The second decision is that the amendment regarding the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Board will not be implemented. These are the two orders by the Supreme Court today, but I believe the first order is a big one," PTI quoted him as saying.

Advocate Barun Sinha clarified the two points of the interim order by the Supreme Court.

"The first interim order is that there will be no appointment in Waqf Council or Waqf Board as per the amended law till the next date of hearing. The second thing that honourable court said was that the government will not denotify the Waqf by User, those who are registered and gazetted till the next date," Advocate Sinha said after the hearing.

AIMIM chief Asadudin Owasi reacted to the Supreme Court's directions, saying that his party would continue to oppose the act as ‘unconstitutional’.

The court directed five petitions to be selected as lead petitions that will be decided by the petitioners. It also segregated the cases filed by Hindu parties challenging the earlier Waqf laws of 1995 and 2013.

The Supreme Court has fixed the next hearing for the week commencing May 5, after which the responses of the Centre, states, and petitioners opposing the Act will be filed.

The Supreme Court has said that petitioners can file a rejoinder to the Centre's reply in 5 days, after which it will list the matter for interim orders.

1. Centre assures SC it won't denotify 'waqf by deed' and 'waqf by user' till next hearing, PTI reported.

2. If registration of any waqf properties has taken place under 1995 Act then those properties can't be disturbed says CJI.

3. There should not be any appointment in central waqf council and boards in meantime, says SC.

The CJI led bench gives centre a week to file a reply.

CJI dictating order, Bar and Bench repoted.

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, has sought one week from the court to place some documents and assures that no appointment of board or council will occur, reports ANI

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: The CJI Sanjiv Khanna-led bench has begun hearing the petitions.

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli tells ANI that he is hopeful that justice will be delivered by the Supreme Court as it will resume hearing on the petitions challenging the recently passed Waqf Amendment Act for the second day.

"We are hopeful that justice will be served in all the petitions that have been filed. The Supreme Court has said that if this Act is implemented, what will happen to (masjids) buildings constructed in the 12th and 13th centuries...Along with this, what will happen to the freedom of religion granted in Articles 25 and 26 if this Act is implemented? This makes us hopeful that the religious freedom guaranteed by the Constitution will remain," he says, according to the news agency,

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: The Supreme Court on Thursday is likely to pass an interim order on the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.On Wednesday, the top court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna had expressed its concerns over the law.

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: The Supreme Court Bar Association has urged the top court to live stream the Waqf Amendment Act case proceedings, reports Bar and Bench.

Waqf Amendment Act hearing LIVE: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee took a veiled jibe at PM Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing them of being "against Muslims" but receiving their hospitality in West Asian countries.

"You are against Muslims, but in Saudi Arabia, you meet Muslims... If you go to Dubai, UAE, whose hospitality do you take there... You say one thing in your country and another outside," Banerjee said, according to ANI.

'Trying to mislead and waste the court's time': Muslim cleric Chaudhary Ifraheem Husain has criticised the petitions against the Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025 in Supreme court, stating they are misleading and trying to waste the court's time, ANI reports.

"We believe the petitions from the opposition are misguided. They don't lack confidence in the constitution, as the government was elected by the people, approved by both Houses of Parliament, and signed by the President. Even after all this, these people went to court, trying to mislead and waste the court's time. They are trying to undermine the court's work," he says.

WAQF Amendment Act Supreme Court hearing LIVE: On the Supreme Court's question on whether Muslims would be allowed to be part of Hindu religious trusts while hearing pleas against the Centre's Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, BJP MP Jagdambika Pal tells ANI: “It's a valid question. But the thing is that the Supreme Court is asking this question today, while such orders have been passed in the past. ”

He adds: "The Supreme Court said that the Waqf Board is not a religious body but a legal one which looks after the Waqf properties. Similarly, in another order, it was said that Waqf is a statutory and administrative body and not a religious one. Hence, it's not an interference in religious matters, and if it is an administrative body, it's completely fine to have both Muslim and non-Muslim members in it."

WAQF Amendment Act Supreme Court hearing LIVE: On the Supreme Court proposing to stay key provisions of Waqf Amendment Act, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari tells PTI: "The court has raised the same objections that we had raised in the JPC, and the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. It (referring to Waqf Act) is a complete violation of Articles 25 and 26. Will they (referring to BJP) allow Muslims to be part of advisory boards of Hindu temples?"

WAQF Amendment Act Supreme Court hearing LIVE: The Supreme Court on Wednesday raised concerns about the newly enacted Waqf law, highlighting three key issues: the status of "waqf by user" properties previously recognized by court rulings, the predominance of non-Muslim members in the Waqf Council and Waqf Boards, and the provision that bars a property from being considered waqf if it is claimed as government land.

WAQF Amendment Act Supreme Court hearing LIVE: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed its concerns over the newly enacted Waqf law, questioning three aspects of the statute – the status of “waqf by user” properties declared so under earlier court orders, the majority presence of non-Muslim members in the Waqf Council and Waqf Boards and disallowing a property from operating as waqf property if it is disputed as a government plot.

WAQF Amendment Act Supreme Court hearing LIVE: The Supreme Court will continue hearing the pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, on Thursday.