Amanatullah Khan of the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, which was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Amanatullah Khan’s move comes a day after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Mohammad Jawed approached the Supreme Court on Friday against the constitutional validity of the controversial bill.
According to Amanatullah Khan, who is chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, the bill curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions, reported news agency ANI.
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The contentious Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the early hours of Thursday and Friday, respectively. Both the Houses of the Parliament sat post midnight to discuss the bill in debates that lasted over 12 hours.
In the Lok Sabha, the bill was passed with a 288-232 vote and in Rajya Sabha, with 128-95 votes. Now, the bill requires Presidential assent to come into force.
The Member of Parliament from Hyderabad, Asaduddin Owaisi, and Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, who represents Kishanganj constituency in the Parliament filed separate petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution on Friday. They both urged the top court to strike down the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which the Opposition has deemed as “unconstitutional” and “anti-Muslim”.
According to their petitions, the amendments introduced to the Waqf Act violate Muslim community’s protections under Articles 25 and 26 (right to practice, profess and propagate religion), while retaining them for other religious groups, thereby violating a string of other fundamental rights pertaining to equality, dignity and minority rights.
What is the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025?
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill introduces certain amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995 regarding the management of Waqf properties. According to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Bill was introduced to “fix problems in the management and governance of Waqf properties. The aim is to make rules clearer, include more people in decision-making, and improve how Waqf assets are used.”
Waqf refers to properties dedicated exclusively to religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law.
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