In a firm defense before the Supreme Court on Friday, the Centre upheld the amended law regarding “waqf by user” properties, cautioning that any judicial interference could morph into an unintended legislative framework. This law pertains to properties deemed waqf—dedicated to religious or charitable purposes—based on longstanding usage, rather than a formal declaration by the owner.
The controversy escalated when, on April 17, the bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna voiced concerns over certain aspects of the amendment, particularly the provision that allows for the denotification of unregistered “waqf by user” properties as of April 8. Chief Justice Khanna highlighted the potential severe repercussions of such denotifications on properties previously recognized judicially as waqf.
Responding to these judicial reservations, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, in a voluminous 1,332-page preliminary counter-affidavit, underscored the necessity of registration, which has been compulsory for all waqf properties since 1923. The affidavit stresses that any interim order affecting this provision would not only subvert the legislative intent but also lead to anomalous outcomes that could “amount to the creation of a legislative regime by judicial order.”
The Centre further argued that such a judicial stance would inadvertently harm the Muslim community and disrupt public order. It elaborated on historical misapplications of the “waqf by user” provision, where private and public lands were erroneously claimed as waqf, depriving rightful owners and the government of valuable property rights.
According to the government, stakeholders have also criticized this provision for enabling unwarranted waqf claims on government-owned lands. The affidavit maintains that there has been a clear legislative mandate requiring the registration of waqfs since the early 20th century, and any claims to the contrary by petitioners were deemed “unsustainable and purposefully misleading.”
In conclusion, the Centre’s submission highlighted that only those “waqf by user” properties registered by the cutoff date of April 8, 2025, are protected under the law. Properties failing to meet this criterion due to deliberate non-registration cannot, therefore, benefit from the provision—a stance the Centre describes as too late for reversal.
