Waqf bill: What’s the current take of SC?

A day after the Supreme Court raised objections to three key aspects of the Wakf Act, 2025, the Centre told the court that it will neither make any appointments to wakf boards nor make any change in the character of wakfs, including notified and registered ‘wakf-by-user’, till the next hearing on May 5.Taking on record this assurance by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna said in its order: “It is also stated that till the next date of hearing, no wakf, including wakf-by-user, whether declared by way of notification or by way of registration, shall be de-notified nor shall its character or status be changed.”On the appointment of non-Muslims to Wakf Boards, the Supreme Court took note of Mehta’s assurance that “till the next date of hearing, no appointments will be made by the Centre to the Central Wakf Council and Wakf Boards” and if any state “makes any such appointment, it may be declared void.”The Centre had sought a week’s time to file an affidavit before the Supreme Court passes an interim order, following which a three-judge bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Vishwanathan, adjourned the cases challenging the constitutional validity of the Act till May 5. Chief Justice Khanna will retire on May 13.”We clarify that the hearing scheduled on the next date will be a preliminary hearing and, if necessary, interim orders will be passed,” the order said.The Centre had opposed the Supreme Court’s proposal to pass an interim order against denotification of waqf properties, including ‘waqf-by-user’, as well as stay on the provision allowing inclusion of non-Muslims in Central Waqf Councils and Boards.Senior Advocate Rajiv Malhotra said, “The Court granted seven days to the Union of India, State Governments and the Wakf Board to file their initial reply/response to the writ petitions. The Court also directed that the reply affidavit to the reply/response of the respondents may be filed within five days from the date of its service. The Supreme Court had indicated that it may stay certain provisions of the amended Act, including those relating to waqf-by-user, inclusion of non-Muslims in waqf boards and councils and powers of the collector to change the status of disputed waqf land.”