23 hours Ago
NEW DELHI: Paving the way for major changes in the management of waqf properties, the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the Waqf (Amendment) Bill on Wednesday adopted its report by a 15-11 majority vote. The report will be submitted along with the redrafted legislation to Lok Sabha speaker on Thursday. The bill is likely to be tabled in LS next week.
Opposition members on the JPC including Congress, TMC, DMK, AIMIM and Shiv Sena (UBT) submitted their dissent notes to panel chairman Jagdambika Pal as they described the bill as an attack on the "constitutional rights of Muslim community". They also registered their objection to the proposed omission of 'waqf by user' clause in the bill. The members also expressed concern over the bill allowing excessive govt interference in the functioning, control and management of waqf properties in the country.
They raised objections to the proposed appointment of non-Muslims on waqf boards. BJP members countered the charge and said the redrafted bill seeks to bring in transparency and accountability in the management of waqf properties. Pal claimed amendments approved by the committee had addressed several concerns of opposition members as well.
He highlighted that, for the first time, 'Pasmanda' (backward) Muslims, the poor, women and orphans were included among the beneficiaries of waqf, an endowment made by Muslims for charitable and religious purposes. The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, as adopted, lays down that existing registered 'waqf by user' will continue to be recognised as waqf, except in cases where property is under dispute or owned by the govt. It has also endorsed the govt's move to include non-Muslims in waqf boards.
As per the bill, waqf boards will now include one member from the Muslim OBC community. Also, Muslim trusts that function similarly to waqf but are governed by trust laws will be excluded from Waqf Act, 1995, preventing legal conflicts. The finality of tribunal decisions has been removed.
Any aggrieved person can now appeal to HC within 90 days of the tribunal's decision. In his dissent note, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said last-minute inclusion of the proviso to the clause omitting 'waqf by user' was "wholly unhelpful" as the principle will only be tested in cases where the property is placed "in dispute", in which case proviso will not apply. Congress member Gaurav Gogoi in his dissent note expressed fear over possibility of bad-faith actors instituting litigation over any part of the properties belonging to 'waqf by user' and preventing it from seeking any protection under the amended Act.
TMC members Kalyan Banerjee and Nadimul Haque objected to the amendment to the original Act that states if any govt property is identified or declared as waqf property, before or after the enforcement of this Act, it shall not be a waqf property..
