Amid row over Waqf land, Karnataka officials to appear before parliamentary panel
New Delhi, Dec 25: Amid a row over Waqf land in Karnataka, officials from the state government are scheduled to appear before the parliamentary panel examining the Waqf Amendment Bill on Thursday.
The Joint Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill, chaired by BJP member Jagadambika Pal, is scheduled to hear views from representatives of the governments of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Delhi in sittings spread over two days beginning Thursday.
Delhi's Food and Supply Minister Imran Hussain is also scheduled to address the committee on Friday, followed by the recording of evidence by the representatives of the Delhi government.
The deposition of officials from the Congress-led Karnataka government comes in the wake of a row over claims by BJP leaders that over 1500 acres of land belonging to farmers in the state were being taken over by the Waqf board.
Pal had visited Karnataka and interacted with the farmers who had received notices from the state government regarding encroachment over properties belonging to the Waqf Board.
The committee had also written to state governments seeking details of Waqf properties occupied by them in an unauthorised manner as per the Sachar panel report.
The UPA government constituted the Sachar Committee in 2005 to study the social, economic and educational status of the Muslim community in India.
The parliamentary panel was constituted on August 8, soon after the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha.
Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging that they violate the religious rights of Muslims. The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the waqf boards and make them accountable.
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SC to hear pleas challenging Waqf law provisions on May 20 for passing interim orders
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will take up on May 20 the issue of considering interim relief on pleas challenging validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for those challenging the validity of the law, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, to file their written notes by Monday.
“We will be considering the issue of interim relief only on Tuesday,” the CJI said while adjourning the hearing on the pleas.
The bench was told by the lawyers from both sides that the judges may need some more time to go through the pleadings.
In the meanwhile, the law officer said that in any case, there is a subsisting assurance of the Centre that no waqf properties, including those established by waqf by user, would be denotified.
Earlier, the law officer had also assured that no appointments to the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Boards would be made under the new law.
The bench said it will not consider any plea seeking a stay of provisions of earlier 1995 Waqf law when the matters are taken up on May 20.
Former CJI Sanjiv Khanna, whose bench was hearing the matter, demitted office on May 13, and the matters were transferred to the bench headed by Justice Gavai.
On April 25, the central ministry of minority affairs filed a preliminary 1,332-page affidavit defending the amended Waqf Act of 2025 and opposed any "blanket stay" by the court on a "law having presumption of constitutionality passed by Parliament".
The Centre urged the top court to dismiss the pleas challenging the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, pointing out a "mischievous false narrative" surrounding certain provisions.
The Centre notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 after it got President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5.
