Muslim Personal Law Board Approaches Supreme Court Against Discriminatory and Anti-Constitutional Waqf Law
New Delhi, April 7, 2025 (KTR) All India Muslim Personal Law Board has filed a petition yesterday night in Supreme Court challenging the Waqf Act recently passed by the Parliament.
Dr. SQR Ilyas, spokesperson of the Board, said in a press statement that the petition strongly objects to the amendments passed by Parliament, calling them arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion. The Board asserted that the amendments not only violate the fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India but also clearly reveal the government’s intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf, thereby sidelining the Muslim minority from managing their own religious endowments.
Articles 25 and 26 of the Indian Constitution ensure freedom of conscience, the right to practice, propagate religion, and the right to establish and manage institutions for religious and charitable purposes. The newly enacted law deprives Muslims of these fundamental rights. The amendments regarding the selection of members of the Central Waqf Council and Waqf Boards stand as stark proof of this deprivation. Additionally, the five-year requirement for a waqif (donor) to be a practicing Muslim contradicts both the Indian legal framework and Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution, as well as Islamic Shariah principles.
Dr. Ilyas further stated that the petition describes the law as discriminatory and inconsistent with Article 14 of the Constitution. It points out that the rights and protections afforded to the endowments of other religious communities—Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains and Buddhists—have been denied to Muslim waqf Aawqaf. The Board has appealed to the Supreme Court, as the guardian of constitutional rights, to annul these controversial amendments, uphold the sanctity of the Constitution and protect the rights of the Muslim minority from being trampled upon.
The petition was settled by senior Supreme Court advocate M.R. Shamshad, with Advocate-on-Record Talha Abdul Rahman representing the Board. The petition was filed on behalf of the Board by its General Secretary, Maulana Mohammed Fazlurrahim Mujaddidi. (KTR)