2025 Waqf law: SC stays key provisions, refuses to halt entire Act

The Supreme Court on Monday stayed several key provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act 2025 including the clause requiring a person to have practised Islam for the past five years before dedicating property as Waqf news agency PTI reportedHowever the apex court refused to put the entire law on holdldquoWe have held that presumption is always in favour of constitutionality of a statute and intervention can be done only in the rarest of rare casesrdquo a bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said in its interim orderThe court also paused the powers given to collectors to adjudicate Waqf properties and addressed the participation of nonMuslims in Waqf Boards directing that the Central Waqf Council should not have more than four nonMuslim members out of 20 and State Waqf Boards not more than three of 11 reported PTIldquoThe bench has considered the prima facie challenge to each section in the new law and found that no case was made out to stay entire provisions of the statute However some sections need some protectionrdquo CJI Gavai saidHe also emphasised that the directions were interim and would not prevent petitioners or the government from presenting full arguments at the final hearing reported PTIKey sections that remain in the ActSection 3r The requirement that a person must have practised Islam for five years before dedicating property as Waqf has been stayed until state rules are framed to determine what constitutes ldquopractising Muslimrdquo The order noted that without such rules the provision could lead to arbitrary powerSection 3C The court stayed the proviso to Section 3C2 which deemed a property nonWaqf unless a government officer confirmed no encroachment Sections 3C3 and 3C4 which authorised officers to declare property as government land and direct Waqf Boards to correct records were also stayed ldquoPermitting the collector to determine the rights is against the separation of powers the executive cannot determine citizensrsquo rightsrdquo the bench said Until the Waqf Tribunal adjudicates property titles under Section 83 possession and records cannot be disturbed though no thirdparty rights can be created during the inquiryNonMuslim participation in Waqf Boards The court refused to stay the provisions but imposed limits While Section 23 which deals with CEO appointments remains intact the bench directed that as far as possible the CEO should be appointed from the Muslim communityThe court also declined to interfere with the provision mandating registration of Waqfs noting it existed under the 1995 and 2013 legislationsWaqf refers to an endowment made by a Muslim for charitable or religious purposes such as building mosques schools hospitals or other public institutions Waqf properties are inalienablemdashthey cannot be sold gifted inherited or encumberedThe Supreme Court had reserved its orders on May 22 on three key issues powers to denotify properties declared as Waqf the composition of state Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council and the status of a Waqf property during a collectorrsquos inquiryThe Waqf Amendment Act 2025 was notified by the Centre on April 8 after President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent on April 5 The Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha passed the Bill on April 3 and 4 respectivelyWith PTI inputs