THE SUPREME COURT TODAY refused to put on hold the provision in the 2025 amended Waqf Act abolishing the concept of ‘Waqf by user’ holding that it was not arbitrary and the apprehensions of the petitioners that government would grab all such ‘Waqf by user’ properties was unfounded.
Referring to the instances of encroachment of government lands particularly in Andhra Pradesh where the State Waqf Board had notified thousands of acres of land belonging to the Government as waqf property, the interim order said, “After noticing such instances of misuse, if the legislature finds that the concept of “Waqf by User” has to be abolished and that too prospectively, in our view, the same cannot prima facie be said to be arbitrary.”
Referring to the central government submission that the deletion of clause (i) of Section 3(r) of the Original Waqf Act would come into effect from the date on which the impugned Act has come into effect, the interim order said, “The said provision would, therefore, not apply retrospectively. Therefore, the contention of the petitioners that the lands vested in the waqfs would be grabbed by the Government prima facie holds no water.
In its interim order passed today, the Court stayed the operation of certain key provisions including that a person should be a practising Muslim for five years before making/creating a Waqf as in the absence of a mechanism it could lead to an arbitrary exercise of power by the government.
