SC refuses to entertain new petition challenging Waqf Amendment Act
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a fresh plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, stating that it could not entertain "hundreds" of petitions on the issue. A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed the counsel for the petitioner, Syed Alo Akbar, to file an intervention application in five pending cases that will be taken up on May 5 for passing interim orders.
“You withdraw this. We passed an order on April 17 saying only five petitions will be taken up for hearing,” Chief Justice Khanna remarked, adding that it would be open for the petitioner to file an application in the ongoing cases if advised. On April 17, the bench decided to hear only five of the numerous pleas related to the issue and titled the case: "In Re: Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025."
Around 72 petitions had been filed against the law, including ones by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Anwar Basha, former chairman of the Karnataka State Board of AUQAF, Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohammad Jawed, among others. The court appointed three lawyers as nodal counsel, instructing them to decide among themselves who would present arguments.
The petitioners were given five days to file their rejoinders to the Centre's reply. The bench clarified that the next hearing on May 5 would focus on preliminary objections and interim orders. The Centre had earlier assured the court that it would neither denotify waqf properties, including "waqf by user," nor make appointments to the central waqf council and boards until May 5.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the government, informed the bench that the waqf law had been passed by Parliament with “due deliberations” and should not be stayed without hearing the government. Later, the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs submitted a 1,332-page affidavit defending the amended Waqf Act and opposed any "blanket stay" on the law, which it argued had the presumption of constitutionality.
The ministry urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the pleas challenging the law’s validity, pointing to what it termed a "mischievous false narrative" surrounding certain provisions. The Centre had recently notified the Act, which received assent from President Droupadi Murmu on April 5 after passing through both houses of Parliament. The bill had been approved in the Rajya Sabha with 128 votes in favor and 95 against, and in the Lok Sabha with 288 votes in favor and 232 against.
With PTI inputs