Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi MLA Amanatullah Khan has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, calling it “arbitrary” and “unconstitutional”.
Khan, who moved a writ petition under Article 32 (remedies for enforcement of fundamental rights) of the Constitution, claimed that the Bill curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims and enables arbitrary executive interference, along with undermining minority rights.
“The Bill violates fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, and 300-A of the Constitution. It curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions.
“The Bill has not yet received Presidential assent, but its provisions have triggered widespread anxiety among Muslims, particularly due to changes that dilute the religious autonomy and constitutional protections of waqf institutions,” the petition states.
Among the most contentious changes proposed by the Bill, the petition states, is increasing the powers of the government in determining whether a property is a Waqf.
For instance, Section 40 of the Waqf Act empowers the Waqf Board to decide if a property is a Waqf property. The decision of the Board would be final unless it is revoked or modified by the Waqf Tribunal. The Bill extends this power, which currently lies with the Waqf Tribunal, to the district collector.
“The transfer of adjudicatory powers from the Tribunal to Executive authorities like the District Collector (Section 4) and the curtailment of Tribunal’s stay powers (Section 83) amount to denial of fair procedure,” claims Khan’s petition.
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Another criticism of the Bill by its opponents is that it changes the representation of Waqf Boards. The Bill proposes allowing a non-Muslim chief executive officer, and at least two non-Muslim members to be appointed by the state government to the Waqf Boards at the state level.
“The introduction of non-Muslim members to the Waqf Boards and the Central Waqf Council under Sections 9 and 14 creates a classification that is not based on intelligible differentia, nor does it have a rational nexus with the object of religious property administration,” Khan alleged in his petition.
Another provision termed problematic by opponents is the one related to a survey of properties. The earlier 1995 Act prescribed a survey of auqaf (plural of waqf) by a survey commissioner appointed by the state government. The new amendment Bill aims to replace the survey commissioner with the district collector or any other officer not below the rank of a deputy collector duly nominated by the collector.