Waqf Act: SC’s Interim Verdict Endorses Harmful Amendments, Says TN’s MKM

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Party chief Prof MH Jawahirullah says the verdict has left many regressive provisions of the controversial law untouched

NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court’s interim judgment on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, is a partial verdict which “endorses harmful amendments” and fails to secure the constitutional rights of Waqf institutions, Manithaneya Makkal Katchi (MMK) president and Tamil Nadu MLA Prof MH Jawahirullah said on Tuesday

He said the verdict has left many regressive provisions of the controversial law untouched. “The Union BJP government introduced 44 amendments in Parliament — comprising 33 insertions, 45 substitutions and 37 deletions, a total of 115 changes. The Supreme Court has addressed only a few of these while leaving most of the damaging clauses intact,” he said in conversation with Clarion India from Chennai.

Acknowledging that the court has stayed certain provisions, the MMK leader argued that the order falls short of protecting the community’s rights. He pointed in particular to the ruling allowing up to four non-Muslims on the 22-member Central Waqf Council and up to three non-Muslims on State Waqf Boards of 11 members. “If outsiders to Hindu or Sikh faiths cannot serve on their respective boards, it is discriminatory that non-Muslims are mandated on Waqf Boards,” he said.

The Tamil Nadu lawmaker welcomed some aspects of the judgment, such as the stay on the amendment requiring individuals to prove they had followed Islam for at least five years before creating a Waqf. He also noted as positive the court’s clarification that no officer could unilaterally decide who is qualified to create a Waqf, and its direction that Waqf properties under dispute cannot be confiscated or altered until the final decision.

However, Prof Jawahirullah voiced grave concern over the court’s handling of “Waqf by user”, warning that centuries-old mosques and graveyards — which came into existence through continued community use — face “existential threats” following the interim order, particularly paragraphs 143–152 of the judgment. “The ruling has complicated a long-standing principle that protected places of worship maintained by generations of believers,” he said.

The MMK chief also criticised the court for not addressing certain provisions of the original Act that were deleted by the 2025 amendment, such as Section 107, which exempted the recovery of encroached Waqf properties from the Limitation Act, and Section 108, which dealt with evacuee Waqf properties. “By ignoring these, the judgment indirectly facilitates state governments hostile to Muslims to seize Waqf lands,” he claimed.

Calling the 2025 law “a deliberate conspiracy to weaken and usurp Waqf properties”, Jawahirullah reiterated his demand for its complete repeal and restoration of the Waqf Act, 2013.

He also welcomed the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s announcement to continue the struggle to protect Waqf and appealed to Muslims in Tamil Nadu to participate in large numbers in the nationwide campaign. The AIMPLB has scheduled a massive public meeting at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on November 16, to press for the repeal of the amendment.

Jawahirullah also thanked the Tamil Nadu Muslim Munnetra Kazhagam (TMMK), which has already challenged the amendment in the Supreme Court, and expressed gratitude to the DMK, Congress, Samajwadi Party and other allies for their legal support. As the case moves towards its final hearing in November, he urged senior counsels representing these parties to “vigorously highlight the shortcomings of the interim verdict and argue strongly for the scrapping of this unconstitutional Act when the case comes up for final hearing in November.

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