Waqf Properties Protected For Now: SC Directs No Denotification Until Next Hearing In May

The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Centre one week to respond to petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. During the hearing, the Centre promised the court that no waqf properties, including those recognized as 'waqf by user', would be denotified or their status changed until the next hearing.

The Centre declared that no new appointments would be made to the Waqf Council or any Waqf Boards in the meantime. The guarantee was noticed by the bench, which included Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan.

The case will resume in the week of May 5. By then, the Center, state governments, and petitioners contesting the Act must have filed their answers. The court also directed the petitioners to select five petitions to serve as lead cases, which will be heard collectively under the title "In Re: Waqf Amendment Act 2025."

The bench also split petitions brought by Hindu groups challenging previous Waqf legislation, specifically the Waqf Acts of 1995 and 2013.

On Wednesday, the bench expressed various concerns with the new statute. Among the issues raised were the treatment of 'waqf by user' properties that had previously been recognized by court orders, the inclusion of non-Muslim members on the Waqf Council and Waqf Boards, and the provision that prevents properties from being treated as waqf if they are disputed as government land.

Although the court indicated that it was prepared to impose an interim order suspending portions of the modified law, it agreed to hear the Centre and the states before proceeding.

CJI Khanna further stated that the government "cannot rewrite history" by adopting legislative amendments to reverse the status of properties already designated waqf by the courts or otherwise.