On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to put the Waqf law on hold, saying there was a “presumption” of constitutionality in its favour. However, the court stalled certain provisions, including the rule that only those practising Islam for the last five years can create a waqf.

A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih said,

“We have considered a prima facie challenge to each of the sections and found no case was made out to stay the entire statute.”

The court, however, stayed the provision requiring five years of practising Islam before creating a waqf. It also paused the rule allowing a government-designated officer to decide if a Waqf property has encroached on government land.

Speaking on the matter, the Chief Justice said,

“We have held presumption is always on constitutionality of statute and in rarest it can be done. We have found that the entire Act is challenged, but the basic challenge was sections 3(r), 3C, 14,...”

The court directed that, as far as possible, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Waqf Board should be a Muslim. It refused to pass the amendment allowing the appointment of a non-Muslim CEO.

Additionally, the court ruled that the number of non-Muslims in state Waqf boards and the central Waqf council cannot exceed three.

The Supreme Court had reserved its order on May 22 regarding key issues, including the power to denotify properties declared as waqf by courts, by user, or by deed. These questions arose during hearings challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

The detailed judgement is still awaited.

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