New Delhi, May 20, 2025: In a high-stakes hearing on the constitutional validity of the recently enacted Waqf Amendment Act, Chief Justice of India BR Gavai emphasized the judiciary\u2019s limited role in striking down legislation, stating that \u201cthere is a presumption of constitutionality\u201d in laws passed by Parliament and that courts can interfere only in cases where a \u201cglaring\u201d violation is made out.<\/p>\n
The bench, comprising CJI Gavai and Justice AG Masih, was hearing multiple petitions challenging the Waqf Amendment Act, which was passed last month amid strong opposition from several quarters. Earlier, the court had focused the case on three contentious issues: Waqf by user, nomination of non-Muslims to the Waqf Council and state Waqf Boards, and identification of government land under Waqf. The Centre had previously assured the court that it would not act on these provisions until the matter was adjudicated.<\/p>\n
During today’s proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta noted that the petitioners’ arguments had now expanded beyond the three agreed issues. \u201cMy request is to confine it to the three issues only,\u201d Mehta said.<\/p>\n
This was strongly opposed by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who argued that the court cannot conduct a piecemeal hearing. \u201cThe then Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna had said the entire Act would be examined. You cannot now restrict the scope,\u201d Singhvi said.<\/p>\n
Sibal launched a scathing attack on the Act, calling it an unconstitutional attempt to seize Waqf lands. \u201cThis law is designed to take away Waqf property without following any due process. It even imposes a requirement that only a practising Muslim for five years can create a Waqf. What if someone is on their deathbed?\u201d he asked, calling the provision discriminatory and intrusive.<\/p>\n
He further warned that the amended law empowers local authorities or individuals to raise objections, which could unilaterally strip a property of its Waqf status. \u201cA government officer becomes the judge in his own cause, and Waqf property is taken away \u2014 no questions asked,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
In a broader critique, Sibal compared the status of mosques with temples under Indian law. \u201cThe State cannot fund religious institutions. Temples have a corpus of crores, but mosques and graveyards survive on private endowments. That\u2019s why people dedicate land as Waqf at the end of their lives. This law targets that tradition.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also raised concerns that under the new provisions, any monument designated as \u201cprotected\u201d by the Archaeological Survey of India would automatically lose its Waqf status \u2014 citing the example of Jama Masjid in Sambhal.<\/p>\n
Highlighting procedural flaws, Sibal claimed that several contentious sections were never placed before the Joint Parliamentary Committee and thus bypassed parliamentary scrutiny.<\/p>\n
The Chief Justice, however, cautioned restraint, reiterating that the judiciary cannot step in unless a \u201cglaring case\u201d of unconstitutionality is established.<\/p>\n
The hearing will continue as the petitioners seek to expand the scope of judicial review beyond the initial three provisions.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi, May 20, 2025: In a high-stakes hearing on the constitutional validity of the recently enacted Waqf Amendment Act, Chief Justice of India BR Gavai emphasized the judiciary\u2019s limited … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3379,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inn","category-national","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8856,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3377\/revisions\/8856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ichelnewsnetwork.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}