SC plays by ‘no mention’ rule, no urgent Waqf pleas listing

NEW DELHI: Two days after Waqf (Amendment) Act came into force, its constitutional validity was challenged before SC Monday by DMK, Maulana Arshad Madani of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema. The petitions object primarily to the elimination of the ‘waqf by user’ provision and alleged “ouster of Muslims” from waqf management.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and A Singhvi, appearing for Madani and the Kerala Islamic body, requested a bench led by CJI Sanjiv Khanna for urgent hearing. The CJI, however, stuck to the ‘no mentioning for urgent listing’ rule but said the petitions would be listed soon, likely by Friday.
Detailing its objections to the amendments made to 2013 Waqf Act, the Kerala outfit said the changes “display a patent discrimination against Muslims, based on religion, ousting them from carrying out meaningful administration of an entity that is a creation of their very religion.”
Inclusion of non-Muslims in the Central Waqf Council and the Board of Auqaf exhibited a “deep lack of trust on part of legislators” in all-Muslim council and board to carry out duties and functions of the two bodies, it said.
Criticising the provision allowing collectors to inquire into the nature of waqf property to determine if it is govt land, the Kerala body said this created a situation where the government became “a judge in its own cause,” and that expecting fairness from such an inquiry was “bleak and remote.”
DMK MP A Raja, who was part of the JPC on the waqf bill, argued the changes violated the fundamental rights of the Muslim community.
Madani’s petition, filed through Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, sought deferment of amended Act’s implementation, calling it destructive of the centuries-old waqf tradition.
AIMPLB said the changes reflected the govt’s intention to wrest control of administration of waqf in breach of the minority community’s constitutional rights, under Articles 25 and 26, to manage their own endowments. It said the requirement of a person to be a practising Muslim for five years to become a waqif (donor) was violative of Article 14 (right to equality – no member of other faiths is subjected to such condition), and Islamic Shariah principles.