The Supreme Court on Friday refused to urgently hear an interim plea challenging the Centre’s directive mandating registration of all waqfs, including waqf-by-user, on the newly launched UMEED portal.
The Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development (UMEED) Central Portal, introduced by the government on June 6, aims to create a digital inventory of waqf properties across India after geo-tagging them. Under the scheme, details of all registered waqf properties must be uploaded within six months.
A bench headed by Chief Justice B.R. Gavai was informed by a lawyer that the portal requires compulsory registration of all categories of waqf, including those established by long usage (“waqf-by-user”), which, he argued, cannot practically be registered. The counsel further said that the Supreme Court registry was not accepting an interim application on the matter since orders had already been reserved in May.
Responding to the plea, the CJI remarked, “We have already reserved the order in the matter. You register it… nobody is refusing you the registration. This aspect may be dealt with later.”
Background of the Case
On May 22, the bench had reserved interim orders on three significant issues related to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025:
- Denotification of Properties: Whether properties declared as waqf by courts, deed, or usage can be denotified under the new provisions.
- Composition of Waqf Bodies: The structure of state waqf boards and the Central Waqf Council.
- Government Land Inquiry: A clause stating that a waqf property will not be treated as waqf if the collector, upon inquiry, finds it to be government land.
The Centre has defended the amended law, asserting that waqf, by its very nature, is a “secular concept” and that the statute enjoys a strong presumption of constitutionality.
