Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. The petition comes after President Droupadi Murmu granted her assent to the bill on April 5, following heated debates in Parliament.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan has agreed to consider listing the matter for an urgent hearing. The court is already hearing related pleas filed by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed, and AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan.
In its petition, filed late on April 6, AIMPLB described the amendments as “arbitrary, discriminatory, and based on exclusion.” According to board spokesperson SQR Ilyas, the Act violates Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution, which guarantee religious freedom and the right to manage religious and charitable institutions.
The petition claims that the new law enables the central government to take complete control over the administration of Waqf properties, effectively sidelining the Muslim community from managing their religious endowments.
“The amendments regarding the selection of members of the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards exemplify the deprivation of these rights. Further, the five-year requirement for a waqif (donor) to be a practising Muslim contradicts Indian legal standards, Article 14 and 25 of the Constitution, and Islamic Shariah principles,” the petition states.
The AIMPLB further argued that the rights and protections available to endowments of other religious groups—such as Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists—are not extended to Muslim Waqf institutions, making the legislation discriminatory under Article 14 of the Constitution.
Calling on the Supreme Court to uphold constitutional values, the board urged the judiciary to annul the “controversial amendments” and protect the rights of the Muslim minority from being infringed.
The plea is settled by advocate M R Shamshad and filed through advocate-on-record Talha Abdul Rahman, on behalf of AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Fazlur Raheem Mujaddidi.
