Okhla MLA Amanatullah Khan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf Amendment Bill, 2025, which was cleared by the Rajya Sabha on Friday.
The move by AAP MLA Amanatullah has come a day after All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Mohammad Jawed approached the Supreme Court on Friday against the constitutional validity of the bill.
According to Amanatullah, who was chairman of the Delhi Waqf Board, the bill curtails the religious and cultural autonomy of Muslims, enables arbitrary executive interference, and undermines minority rights to manage their religious and charitable institutions, reported news agency ANI.
The Waqf Amendment Bill was passed in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha during the early hours of Thursday and Friday, respectively. Both the Houses of the Parliament sat post midnight to discuss the bill in debates that lasted over 12 hours.
In the Lok Sabha, the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed with a 288-232 vote and in Rajya Sabha, with 128-95 votes. Now, the bill requires Presidential assent to come into force.
Both Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Mohammad Jawed from Kishanganj filed separate petitions under Article 32 of the Constitution on Friday. They both urged the top court to strike down the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, which the Opposition has deemed as “unconstitutional” and “anti-Muslim”.
In a related development, president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat (Regd.) Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan in a statement thanked the opposition parties — especially the INDIA alliance and the Congress party and their Members of Parliament — and said by voting unitedly against the Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament, they have proven that India’s conscience is still alive, India is still secular, and the future of the minorities in India is still secure and safe.
Dr Khan said we hope the political circumstances will soon change and this oppressive Waqf Bill will be consigned to the dustbin of history. Dr Khan also announced that the Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat will soon file a petition in the Supreme Court against the bill.
Dr Zafarul-Islam said the Bill is a ploy to seize the properties that have been endowed over centuries by the ancestors of the Muslim community.
“It is not easy to prove the ownership of old properties in our country, and this applies to all ancient religious properties. But it is surprising that the laws for religious properties of all other communities are different from this law. In those cases, people of other religions are not made members of their trusts…”, he said.
Dr Khan said this “bill has been brought by the same party that, through dozens of its actions, has tried to push Muslims to the margins — a party that has no Muslim minister, member of Parliament, or even an MLA in its ranks”.
