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Waqf (Amendment) Act hearing: Petitioners counter government’s claim of 116% explosion in waqfs

The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. No interim order was passed.

Commencing arguments on behalf of the petitioners, senior advocate Kapil Sibal apprised a Bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih that the contentious law constitutes a “creeping acquisition” of waqf properties by the Centre, thereby infringing upon the right of Muslims to manage their religious affairs.

He further contended that the 2025 amendments constitute a fundamental departure from the well-established framework of waqf legislation developed over several decades. Senior advocates Rajeev Dhavan, A.M. Singhvi and Huzefa Ahmadi also made their arguments.

Earlier in the proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, submitted that the court could first deliberate on three specific concerns—whether properties declared as waqf by courts can be denotified, the legality of waqf-by-user, and waqf-by-deed—before proceeding to wider questions around the law.

However, the petitioners vehemently opposed this approach, contending that the case involves fundamental constitutional questions that cannot be resolved in a “piecemeal” manner. The Centre had notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 last month, following President Droupadi Murmu’s assent on April 5. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha with 288 members in favour and 232 against. In the Rajya Sabha, 128 members voted in favour, while 95 opposed it.

Singhvi countered the government’s claim of a 116% explosion rise in waqfs from 2013-2024. He said the loading of waqfs in a portal started in 2013. They (the government) are treating an updation exercise, listing in a portal, as an increase in waqfs. The government made a prejudicial argument in its counter-affidavit, he said.

Of the total of 8.72 lakh waqf properties, over 4 lakh, or 50%, are waqfs-by-user. Singhvi submitted. The JPC report showed survey of waqfs was conducted only in 5 out of 28 States and 4 UTs, he submitted.