Paschim Medinipur (West Bengal) [India], September 16 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Dilip Ghosh on Tuesday welcomed the Supreme Court’s interim order regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and said that the legislation has proven to be correct.
Speaking to ANI, Ghosh said, “Those who took this matter to the court, the court has proved that the law which has been passed is correct.”
The apex court has put a stay on certain provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, while upholding the provision which abolished the concept of ‘Waqf-by-user’.
Looking at the order as a victory, both the ruling and the opposition camps have welcomed the decision by the bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih.
Earlier on Monday, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh said that he had flagged the Bill as a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee for the legislation.
He said, “I was a member of the committee formed to discuss this Bill, and even then, we had said not to bring such amendments that are not practical. We had raised questions within the committee as well.”
Referring to the apex court’s order putting a stay on the provision allowing the Collector to decide the dispute whether a Waqf property has encroached upon a government property, he called the Act “unconstitutional”.
“Our concerns were not listened to at that time, and this unconstitutional Bill was forcibly passed… We were saying from the first day that this is an unconstitutional Bill because you had given the decision to cancel the Waqf to the Collector. Today, the Supreme Court has put a stay on it,” the AAP leader said.
In the interim order, the apex court stayed the provision allowing the Collector to decide the dispute over the property. It said the Collector cannot be permitted to adjudicate the rights of personal citizens, and this will violate the separation of powers.
The top court held that till adjudication happens by the Tribunal, no third-party rights can be created against any parties, and the provision dealing with such powers to the Collector shall remain stayed.
The bench stayed the provision in the Act that a person should be a practitioner of Islam for five years to create a Waqf.
It said the provision will be stayed till rules are framed on determining whether a person is a practitioner of Islam. The bench said that without any such rule or mechanism, the provision will lead to an arbitrary exercise of power.
The bench also said that the provision that not more than three non-Muslim members should be included in the state Waqf Board, and that, in total, not more than four non-Muslims shall be included in the Central Waqf Councils for now. The court also noted that, as far as possible, the CEO of the Board should be a Muslim.
However, the top court refused to stay the provision which abolished the concept of ‘Waqf-by-user’, and said prima facie deletion of the provision in the amendment “cannot be said to be arbitrary.”
“If the legislature, in 2025, finds that on account of the concept of Waqf-by-User, huge government properties have been encroached upon and to stop the said menace, it takes steps for deletion of the said provision, the said amendment, prima facie, cannot be said to be arbitrary,” the court said. (ANI)
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