Waqf Amendment Act: SC grants Centre a week to respond; no non-Muslim appointments till next hearing, assures Govt

The Supreme Court of India on Thursday granted the Centre a week's time to file a response to the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. 

The Centre also assured the court that no appointments will be made to the Waqf Council or Waqf Boards until then, and no non-Muslims will be included in the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards until the next hearing. 

It assured the court that until then, waqf, including waqf-by-user, will neither be denotified nor its character changed. 

The concept of ‘Waqf-by-user’ refers to a practice where a property is recognised as Waqf based on its long-term, uninterrupted use for such purposes, even if there isn't a formal registration.

The top court resumed hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the new law. A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan stopped short of passing the interim order on Wednesday.

“The Supreme Court didn't put a stay. The Solicitor General of India said that no appointment will be made either in the council or in the board under the new amendment act,” Advocate Barun Kumar Sinha told news agency ANI.

The Supreme Court, he said, has written in the order that the government will not de-notify the properties (Waqf-by-user) which are registered and gazetted till the next date. “However, the government is free to take action on other properties. The centre told the court that you cannot stay a law passed by the parliament and that the centre is ready for a day-to-day hearing... The issue has been listed for May 5, and the hearing will begin on that day,” he said.

During the hearing on Thursday, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, said that the Centre would like to respond within seven days. Mehta further assured the court that no appointments would be made to the Council and Board under S.9 and 14 until the next hearing date.

“Waqf, including waqf by user already registered or declared by way of notification shall neither be denotified nor the collector will change. We take the statement on record,” he said, as quoted by legal news website LiveLaw.

When is the next hearing?

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

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

The court directed that all five petitions challenging the 2025 Act be listed under the common heading “In Re: Waqf Amendment Act 2025.”

What happened in the previous hearing?

On April 16, Wednesday, the three-judge bench was about to dictate the interim order when Mehta, appearing for the Centre, sought more time. The bench then said that it would hear the case again on April 17 before passing orders.

During the hearing, the court raised concerns over three provisions in the amended law while suggesting that it may stay these parts of the contentious law. These three parts include the concept of ‘Waqf-by-user’, representation of non-Muslims on Waqf boards, and the powers of the Collector to change the status of disputed Waqf land.

“We do not stay a legislation normally at this stage of the challenge unless in exceptional circumstances. This appears to be an exception. Our concern is that if waqf-by-user is de-notified, there could be huge consequences,” Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said in an oral observation.

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, that came into force earlier this month, was challenged by a batch of petitions. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha passed the bill during the recently concluded Budget Session of Parliament.

President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the proposed law on April 5.