Centre's tactical retreat on Waqf Act in SC: Is Modi govt taking a leaf out of its CAA playbook?

The Opposition has termed the developments in Supreme Court during the hearing on pleas challenging provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act as a victory. (Representative Image: PTI)

The Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre on Thursday assured the Supreme Court that "waqf by user", registered or unregistered, will continue to be valid at least for the next one week, that state governments will not make any recommendations to constitute a new waqf board or council and that no changes will be brought in accordance with the recently enacted Waqf law during this period.

After the assurance by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna declined to order an interim stay on the amended provisions of the Waqf Act and gave Centre a week's time to file its response while posting the matter for hearing on May 5.

Leaders from Opposition parties including those from the Congress, AIMIM and Trinamool Congress sought to term the weeklong halt in the implementation of the Waqf Act as a victory.

AIMIM’s Asaduddin Owaisi said though he continues to oppose the entire Act, the three points recorded by the SC as government submissions on Thursday were, in effect, a stay by the apex court. AAP's Amanatullah Khan saw the proceedings as the “defeat of BJP’s divisive politics" while Congress' Imran Pratapgarhi saw the developments in court as a "win for the Constitution" and a halt to the "government's conspiracy to grab land".

However, the Centre's stand in court is at best a tactical retreat that would allow it time to recalibrate its approach while also saving it the embarrassment of the Supreme Court ordering an interim stay on possibly the biggest measure undertaken by the Modi government in its third term.

The top court bench had indicated during the first day of hearing that it was leaning towards ordering an interim stay on some key amendments to the Waqf law. These amendments included those related to Waqf by user, the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Waqf boards and council and the powers of the collector to change the status of disputed Waqf lands.

The government believes that by voluntarily providing assurances to the court on key provisions flagged during court proceedings, it had given itself a more honourable way out for the moment.

Additionally, the Centre's tactical retreat in court has also given it the liberty of time not just to frame its responses but also allow it to recalibrate its strategy on the implementation of the Waqf Amendment Act.

In many ways, the manner in which the situation appears to be unfolding in the Waqf Act is reminiscent of the approach the Centre had adopted after the Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act in August 2019.

Like the Waqf law, the passage of the CAA too resulted in a litany of court cases challenging the constitutionality if the law brought by the Centre. However, the Centre faced these legal challenges and was finally able to convince the Supreme Court on the need and intent for the CAA.

Like the CAA, where the Centre took four years to notify the rules for the law, the government appears to be in no hurry to notify the rules and may take its own sweet time to framing rules for the implementation of the Waqf Amendment Act.

Like the current protests against the Waqf law, the passage of the CAA was followed up with nationwide protests with many of them turning violent. However, the Centre's wait-and-watch approach allowed it time to cool off tempers and negate the narrative that Muslims stand to lose citizenship if the CAA was implemented.

The build up to the passage of the Waqf Act saw the Centre make some key changes after the feedback it received during discussions in the JPC, incorporating the amends proposed by allies such as the TDP and JD(U) in the final Bill before it was tabled in Parliament during the last session.

The government would hope that its studied approach to wait and watch, just like it did for the rollout of the citizenship law, would cool tempers, allow protests to subside and offer the Centre ample time and ground to convince the Supreme Court that the amendments brought by the government to the Waqf law checks abuse of norms and weed out the anomalies that have crept in.

However, the Opposition as well as the petitioners in the Waqf case are well aware of the Centre's CAA playbook and it would be interesting to watch the approach they take in tackling the government's strategy in the next hearing on May 5, just eight days before CJI Khanna demits office and passes on the baton to CJI-designate BR Gavai.