Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday appreciated the interim order of the Supreme Court to stop some provisions of the Waqf Amendment Act and said that the apex court has confirmed its resolve to protect the rights of minorities.
In a post on X, Mallikarjun Kharge shared, “The Hon’ble Supreme Court today confirmed its resolve to protect the rights of minorities, a issue for which the opposition stood united against the Modi government. The BJP tried to demolish a divisive law, which only designed to confuse the issues and resolve the issues for a long time. Was gone. “
He further alleged that the BJP is working on dividing the society for narrow electoral benefits. He further said, “The Congress party is firm to protect the rights of every citizen provided by our Constitution without any fear or partiality. On the contrary, the BJP emphasizes the distribution of the society for narrow electoral benefits.”
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the entire Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025, but stopped some of its provisions till the final decision was taken on the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Act.
Chief Justice of India BR A bench of Gawai and Justice Augustine George Christ said that some sections of the amended Act require protection. The bench, passing the order, banned the provision of the Act according to which a person must be a follower of Islam for five years to make Waqf.
The bench said that this provision will be postponed until the rules to determine whether a person is a follower of Islam or not. The bench said that without any such rules or system, this provision will promote arbitrary use of power.
The Supreme Court also stayed the provision that allowed the collector to decide whether the Waqf property had encroached on government property.
It said that the Collector cannot be allowed to take decisions on the personal rights of the citizens and this would violate the separation of the powers. The court said that until the decision is made by the Tribunal, no third party rights can be created against any party and the collector will be stopped by the provisions related to such powers.
The Supreme Court also said that more than three non-Muslim members would not be included in the State Waqf Board, and the Central Waqf Councils will not be included in total more than four non-Muslim members in total. The court also said that as far as possible, the CEO of the board should be a Muslim.
However, the court did not interfere with the provision that makes registration compulsory, as it is not a new requirement, as this condition was also in the previous Acts of 1995 and 2013.
