"Yet another tight slap on face of this govt…": Congress' Venugopal welcomes SC order on Waqf Amendment Act

New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): After the Supreme Court put a stay on certain provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act, Congress MP KC Venugopal on Monday slammed the NDA government and said that this is a vindication of the stand that this law is blatantly unconstitutional and designed to target a particular community.

In a post on X, KC Venugopal, welcoming the order, said that this is “another tight slap” on the face of this government.

“We welcome the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s intervention on the blatantly problematic Waqf Amendment Act. This is a vindication of our stand that this law is blatantly unconstitutional and designed to target a particular community,” he said.

He further said that during the Parliament discussion, many opposition MPs had made certain demands.

“During the Parliament discussion, many opposition MPs, including myself, demanded removing the clause that mandated a person to be a Muslim for at least 5 years to create a Waqf, removing the provision that gave District Collectors the powers to decide Waqf disputes and doing away with the provision that allowed non-Muslims to be part of Waqf Councils,” he shared.

“The Court has stayed two of these provisions, and has also reduced the number of non-Muslims allowed on Waqf Councils and observed that Chief Executives of the Waqf Boards should be from the Muslim community. This verdict is yet another tight slap on the face of this government that is solely focused on destroying the Constitution. If they had paid heed to the opposition’s advice given in Parliament, they would have been spared this embarrassment. They should take the right lessons from this order and repeal the law immediately,” he further shared.

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the entire Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, but put on hold certain provisions pending the final adjudication of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.

A bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih observed that some sections of the amended Act need some protection.

Passing the interim order, the bench stayed the provision in the Act that a person should be a practitioner of Islam for five years to create a Waqf.

It said the provision will be stayed till rules are framed on determining whether a person is a practitioner of Islam. The bench said that without any such rule or mechanism, the provision will lead to an arbitrary exercise of power.

The apex court also stayed the provision allowing the Collector to decide the dispute whether a Waqf property has encroached upon a government property.

It said the Collector cannot be permitted to adjudicate the rights of personal citizens, and this will violate the separation of powers.

The top court held that till adjudication happens by the Tribunal, no third-party rights can be created against any parties, and the provision dealing with such powers to the Collector shall remain stayed.

The apex court also said that the provision that not more than three non-Muslim members should be included in the state Waqf Board, and that, in total, not more than four non-Muslims shall be included in the Central Waqf Councils for now. The court also noted that, as far as possible, the CEO of the Board should be a muslim.

It, however, did not interfere with the provision mandating registration, considering that it is not a new requirement, as this condition was there in the previous enactments of 1995 and 2013 as well. (ANI)

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