The Supreme Court of India will be hearing five pleas challenging the recently passed controversial Waqf Amendment Act, 2025 today.
The apex court on April 17 passed an order mentioning that only five petitions will be taken up at the next hearing and refused to entertain any fresh pleas stating that it cannot entertain "hundreds" of petitions on the same issue.
The Waqf bill was first passed by the Lok Sabha after a 13-hour-long debate with 288 votes in favour and 232 against. After this, the bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha after intense debates with 128 votes in favour and 95 against.
The bill was then given presidential assent on April 6, 2025 and came into effect as a law on April 8, 2025.
Supreme Court Earlier Order
A total of 72 petitions, including those by AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), Anwar Basha former chairman Karnataka State Board of AUQAF and more, were filed against the Waqf (Amendment) Law, 2025.
The Supreme Court on April 17 directed the Centre to file its stand within a week in the challenge to Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 after it was assured by the union government that 'waqf by user' or 'waqf by deed' properties won't be denotified till the next hearing.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan also recorded the assurance of solicitor general Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, that no appointments in the central Waqf council and boards will be made in the meantime.
Mehta said the government won't denotify "waqf by deed" and "waqf by user" properties till the next hearing.
The CJI said if registration of any waqf property had taken place under the erstwhile 1995 Act, then those properties can't be denotified till the next hearing on May 5.
The bench passed the order after Mehta sought a weeks' time to file a preliminary response to the pleas against the newly-amended waqf law.
"If your lordships will say something about 'waqf by user', what will be the fallout?" he asked.
The bench, on the other hand, said it was impossible to deal with a number of pleas on the issue and clarified it would only hear five of them while asking lawyers to decide among themselves who would argue.
The petitioners, the bench said, could file their rejoinders to the Centre's reply within five days of the service of the government's response.
