Supreme Court to hear interim plea on Waqf Amendment Act today
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will today hear arguments on interim relief in the case challenging key provisions of the Waqf law. A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih will preside over the matter.
The petitions challenge the law’s expanded provisions that enhance the government's role in the regulation and administration of Waqf properties. As per a previous decision by a three-judge bench led by then-CJI Sanjeev Khanna, only five leading petitions will be heard, selected from a large batch of pleas. Both sides will get two hours each for arguments.
The Centre has already paused the implementation of two controversial provisions. It has assured the Court that it will not denotify properties deemed waqf under the “waqf by user” doctrine, nor will it proceed with fresh appointments to the Central Waqf Council or the state waqf boards.
The Court is expected to focus on three main issues during the hearing:
1. Whether properties declared as waqf by courts or long-term usage (“waqf by user”) can be denotified.
2. The validity of including non-Muslim members in the Central and State Waqf Boards.
3. A provision allowing the district collector to exclude a property from waqf status if found to be government land.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajiv Dhawan, Salman Khurshid, and Huzaifa Ahmadi will argue for the petitioners challenging the law, with Ejaz Maqbool as the nodal counsel.
On the opposing side, senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, Maninder Singh, Ranjit Kumar, Ravindra Srivastava, and Gopal Shankar Narayan are expected to represent the supporters of the law. Vishnu Shankar Jain will serve as their nodal counsel.
Today’s hearing may determine whether the Court will issue interim orders on these disputed provisions pending a final judgment.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi loses Jorhat seat by 23,000 votes
Jorhat: Senior Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi has been defeated in the Jorhat constituency, losing by a margin of around 23,000 votes.
Gogoi, who has been one of the prominent faces of the Congress in Assam, failed to win the seat as counting concluded.
