Supreme Court may pass interim order in Waqf case. Here are the 3 issues it flagged

The top court has received more than 70 petitions against the Act.

The Supreme Court will on April 17 afternoon resume hearing petitions challenging the recently enacted Waqf law and is expected to pass an interim order “which will balance equities”.

On the first day of hearing on April 16, the country’s top court indicated it might stay certain parts of the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, as it flagged some “concerns” with the law, which has been challenged by Muslim groups as well as several political parties.

The three-member bench, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, said it was considering passing an interim order “to balance equities” but agreed to give the Centre and states more time for arguments.

The court has received more than 70 petitions opposing the law. The petitioners include the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, AIMIM, Congress and the DMK.

Among the concerns raised by the Supreme Court were the inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and state waqf boards, the authority given to collectors to settle waqf property disputes and a provision that enables de-notification of properties declared as waqf.

Status of properties declared ‘waqf by user’

"Waqf by user" refers to a practice where a property is recognised as a religious or charitable endowment (waqf) based on its long-term, uninterrupted use for such purposes. It is considered a religious property even if there is no written declaration by the owner.

The new law has a provision that de-notifies an unregistered “waqf-by-user” property if it is government land.

“When a legislation is passed, courts generally do not interfere... If property declared waqf by the user is denotified, it can have grave ramifications. We will say properties declared by the court to be waqf or held to be waqf will not be de-notified as waqfs or be treated as non-waqf properties, whether waqf-by-user or waqf-by-declaration...,” the SC bench said.

Non-Muslims in waqf boards

The new law requires two non-Muslims, excluding ex-officio members, to be part of the Central Waqf Council and state boards.

"Are you suggesting that minorities, including Muslims, should also be included in boards managing Hindu religious institutions? Please state that openly," PTI quoted the CJI as asking Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta.

Mehta, appearing for the Centre, defended the provision saying the inclusion of non-Muslim members was "limited".

Authority given to collectors

According to the law, the district collector can review and verify if a government property has been wrongly classified as waqf.

The court wonder if was “fair” proviso. “The moment the collector starts inquiry and even when he has not decided yet, you say that it cannot be treated as waqf… What purpose will be served by this proviso? Collector can continue with the proceedings but the proviso will not be given effect to. If he wants, he can move an application before this court and we can modify,” the Live Law website quoted the law as saying.

The government notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, earlier this month after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha in the early hours of April 3 after a marathon debate. A day later, the Rajya Sabha, too, voted in favour of the bill.