Supreme Court orders stay on appointments to Waqf boards

India Today

The Supreme Court has stayed parts of the Waqf Act, 2025, including the removal of the 'waqf by user' clause. It also barred new appointments to Waqf Boards or the Waqf Council until the next hearing on May 5.

Transcript

00:00Nalini, in fact, the Solicitor General here has said, please consider the fallout of this court.

00:04The appeal is the same.

00:06They do not, in fact, stay the law, at least for the time being, more time being sought by the government here.

00:16Yes, Nia, it looks like it might be coming as a small relief to the petitioners in the case

00:21because the Solicitor General has urged the Supreme Court time and again

00:25to give them some time to argue on the interim aspect before the court

00:28to place their detailed arguments, but the court has said that the order will be dictated

00:32and they are in the process of dictating the order now.

00:35It's a fairly short hearing, just 15 minutes hearing that we've seen happen before the Supreme Court

00:39where not a lot has been said, but in very few words, the court has said that they want status code to be maintained,

00:45at least to the extent that they don't want any drastic changes.

00:48Some of the changes can be implemented, of course,

00:51but there were some concerns that were raised by the Supreme Court even during the hearing yesterday

00:54and they pointed out that on those aspects, it might be an issue if it's implemented.

00:59In fact, getting you the latest right now, Sneha, the Supreme Court is dictating the order

01:03and the Supreme Court has said that the Solicitor General has assured the court,

01:08which means that the central government has assured the court that till the next date of hearing,

01:12no appointment will be made to the Council of Boards under sections 9 and 14 of the Act.

01:18That's a big statement that the government has made before the Supreme Court.

01:21What this essentially means is that the government has assured the Supreme Court on record

01:26that no non-Muslims will be included into the Waqf Boards or the Waqf Councils,

01:31at least till the next date of hearing.

01:33That's a big relief coming in for the petitioners in the case

01:36because this was one of the major points of contention

01:39because they said that when it comes to Hindu religious endowments, Sikh religious endowments,

01:44you don't see any non-Hindus or non-Sikhs part of their administrative bodies.

01:47But this kind of discrimination is only being done against the Muslim community

01:51by including non-Muslims into the Waqf Boards and the Waqf Councils

01:55and to that the Solicitor General on behalf of the government,

01:58after taking instructions from the government,

02:00has come and informed the court that there will be no non-Muslims included

02:04into the Waqf Boards or the Waqf Councils,

02:07at least till the next hearing in this entire matter.

02:10They've also gone ahead and said that there are seven days

02:14that have been granted to the centre to place their reply

02:17which means that official notice has been issued to the central government

02:22to reply to these petitions to file their affidavit on these regards.

02:26In fact, the Supreme Court also noted in this order

02:28that the Solicitor General also states that the Waqf, including Waqf by user,

02:33declared by notification will not be denotified

02:36or their character will not be changed.

02:38That's a big breaking news coming in Sneha from the Supreme Court

02:41where the Solicitor General has given his assurance to the Supreme Court

02:44that any properties that do not have the proper documents,

02:48that do not have the proper registration till the next date of hearing

02:52will not be denotified in accordance with this act

02:56which means that they can continue to function as Waqf properties

02:59till the time the Supreme Court doesn't take up the matter

03:02for the hearing on the next day.

03:03So two big major pieces of breaking news

03:06that have come in from the Supreme Court so far.

03:08One, there will be no inclusion of any non-Muslim members

03:11into the Waqf board or the Waqf council till the next date of hearing.

03:14The properties will not be denotified.

03:16The Waqf by user properties, which was a major point of contention for the petitioners,

03:21the Solicitor General has assured the Supreme Court

03:23that they will not be denotified.

03:25Important to point out over here Sneha

03:27that all these orders are being issued

03:29after the assurance has been given by the centre.

03:33So it's not, I mean to a certain extent it is a setback to the centre

03:36but the centre has agreed after the insistence of the Supreme Court

03:41that they will not bring all of these changes into effect

03:44to ensure that the Supreme Court has a chance

03:47to objectively look at the law

03:48and to consider the pros and cons of the constitutionality of this law.

03:52So two big breaking news coming in.

03:54Seven days time has been given to the centre to file its reply.

03:57Only five writ petitioners to remain in court.

04:00It's impossible to read 110 or 120 files

04:04is what the CGI has said

04:05which means there will not be all of the petitions

04:08that have been filed before the Supreme Court

04:10that will effectively be taken up for hearing.

04:12It's going to be only a few petitions.

04:14The CGI has suggested that five main writ petitions

04:17will be taken up for hearing

04:18because the arguments of all the lawyers in all the writ petitions

04:21are more or less going to be similar

04:23because they are all arguing on constitutional grounds,

04:26on the grounds of freedom of religion,

04:28on the grounds of discrimination,

04:30on the grounds of the rights of the Muslims being violated.

04:33So the arguments are going to be similar

04:34which is why the Supreme Court is going to consider five main petitions.

04:38These updates are coming in from Shishti Hoja

04:39who is inside the court right now

04:41and the Supreme Court has officially taken

04:43the Solicitor General's statement on record

04:45and the Solicitor General's statement says

04:47that VAKF, including VAKF by user,

04:50already registered or declared by notification

04:52not to be denotified.

04:54Its character will not be changed.

04:57The Solicitor General has assured the Supreme Court.

04:59The Supreme Court has also said

05:00that only five writ petitioners

05:02will argue before the court in this aspect.

05:05What those five writ petitions will be?

05:07Will it be the first five writ petitions

05:08or it will be the five writ petitions

05:10of the parties that are most affected by this order

05:12is something that we have to watch out for

05:14because remember,

05:15Solicitor General had also raised

05:16before the Supreme Court today

05:18that a lot of petitions were filed

05:19even before the Act was officially notified

05:21or granted the assent of the President.

05:25So, keeping that in mind

05:26whether those petitions will be considered or not

05:28because they were filed slightly prematurely

05:30is something that we have to watch out for.

05:32There is no official stay on the VAKF fact

05:35as Anisha Mantra is bringing us

05:36but the Supreme Court has noted in its order

05:38several assurances given by the Central Government

05:42on the aspect of VAKF by user.

05:44It's a relief coming in that the Centre has agreed

05:46to the fact that the properties will not be denotified.

05:48On the aspect of inclusion of non-Muslim members

05:51again, it's a big relief

05:52for the petitioners who insisted time and again

05:55during their hearing yesterday

05:56that non-Muslims should not be forming part of the boards

05:59or the councils regarding the VAKF properties.

06:02On that also, the Centre has agreed

06:04that there will be no appointments

06:05that will be made in this regard

06:06and the petitioners agree

06:08that they will identify five petitions by themselves

06:11which will be the lead petitions.

06:14So, it will be the petitioners, lawyers together

06:15who will decide

06:16what will be the five petitions

06:18that will be the lead petitions.

06:19It's possibly going to be those five petitions

06:21that are the most exhaustive

06:23which includes all the grounds

06:24that have been included

06:25in the other petitions as well

06:27to ensure that the concerns

06:29of all the parties are taken into account.

06:31So, it remains to be seen

06:32who these five lead petitions

06:34are going to consist of.

06:35All of the 110 or 120 petitions

06:37that have been filed

06:38before the Supreme Court

06:39will not be taken up by the Supreme Court.

06:42They will only hear five petitions

06:43and a big statement coming in

06:46from the Solicitor General

06:47where the government has assured the court

06:48that several aspects

06:50that the petitioners had problems with

06:51will not be implemented

06:53at least as of now

06:54till the next date of hearing.

06:55Okay, be with the Arsenal need.

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