CJI Gavai-led Bench to hear tomorrow pleas against Waqf Amendment Act
As per the cause list published on the apex court website, a 2-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih will resume hearing the matter on May 15.
Multiple petitions have been filed before the top court challenging the constitutional validity of the amendments introduced in the Waqf Act, 1995.
In the previous hearing held on May 5, a bench headed by ex-CJI Sanjiv Khanna opined that it did not intend to reserve its judgment at the interim stage in view of his impending retirement.
Adjourning the hearing, the Bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, said: "We will post it before the bench of Justice Gavai on May 13 or 14."
In an earlier hearing, the top court granted a week's time to the Centre and state governments and the Waqf Boards to file their preliminary reply. It decided to treat five writ petitions as lead cases and said that other pleas will be treated as intervention applications, apart from ordering the registry to rename the cause titles of the proceedings as "In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025".
After the apex court hinted at passing a stay order, the Union government had assured the Supreme Court that it would not de-notify provisions related to 'Waqf by user' or include non-Muslim members in the Waqf Board. In its preliminary affidavit, the Centre said that it brought amendments to prevent abuse of Waqf legislation, which resulted in the encroachment of government properties, apart from ensuring that the Waqf Boards in the country are properly administered and function with transparency.
"It is submitted that there have been reported misuse of Waqf provisions to encroach on private properties and government properties. It is really shocking to know that after the amendment brought in the year 2013, there is a 116 per cent rise in Waqf area," the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs said.
The Centre, in its reply document filed before the top court, said that it was found that most of the Waqf Boards have been functioning in the "most non-transparent manner" and have either not uploaded the details in the public domain or have uploaded partial details. It said that under the old regime, due to the absence of adequate safeguards, government properties and even private properties were declared as Waqf properties.
"The provisions of Sections 3A, 3B, and 3C take care of the said situation, which has been prevailing for several decades. It is submitted that there are startling examples whereby the government lands or even the private lands were declared as Waqf properties," it said in the affidavit.
The Union government said that the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, was passed with the objective of modernising the management of Waqf properties in India through transparent, efficient and inclusive measures. It argued that the reforms introduced are directed solely at the secular and administrative aspects of Waqf institutions – such as property management, record-keeping, and governance structures – without impinging upon any essential religious practices or tenets of the Islamic faith. The concept of 'Waqf', rooted in Islamic laws and traditions, refers to an endowment made by a Muslim for charitable or religious purposes, such as mosques, schools, hospitals, or other public institutions.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
26 minutes ago
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: Landing right when the ground is full of potholes
We all know that particular moment when you're walking down a familiar lane, eyes on your phone or lost in thought, when a pothole filled with muddy water suddenly appears in your path. You don't have time to study it. There's no traffic light or warning cone. You just leap — instinctively, awkwardly, hoping to clear the splash. Sometimes, you land clean. Sometimes, you get drenched despite your best effort. But in either case, the leap is a moment of decision, a refusal to sink into something messy and unfixable. Most of us don't think of it as bravery. But really, it is: the everyday kind, shaped by necessity, uncertainty, and a deep distrust of what lies beneath the surface. Let's dive in. That's what the Supreme Court just did, vaulting back from a May judgment that had declared the Bhushan Power & Steel resolution plan illegal. In recalling that verdict, the Bench led by Chief Justice B R Gavai acknowledged not just a legal misstep, but the economic splash it had caused, of risking JSW Steel's investment of Rs 20,000 crore in investment, thousands of livelihoods, and the very credibility of the IBC, notes our first editorial. It was a leap back to stable ground, but also a reminder that the potholes, like chronic NCLT delays, still remain, waiting to trip up another resolution. And in Maharashtra, two judgments revealed deeper craters in our justice system. Eighteen years of trial in the 2006 train blasts case, only to find coerced confessions and tampered evidence. Another acquittal in the Malegaon blasts. The courts jumped, but the puddles are darker here. Victims' families and the wrongly accused alike are left drenched in delayed justice, their lives shaped by a system that's failed to dry itself off. Elsewhere, Laveesh Bhandari maps a different balancing act, between India's small-town shopkeepers and the tidal force of e-commerce. The splash here is subtle: convenience versus community, price versus people. Can policy help us leap toward a hybrid model that combines reach with resilience? That may be the trick to landing without losing our footing. Prosenjit Datta, meanwhile, cautions that India's economic path is riddled with strategic potholes: rare earth dependency, tech gaps, weak AI foundations. Until we build muscle memory for self-reliance, each new global shock will feel like slipping on familiar gravel. And Chintan Girish Modi reviews A Billion Butterflies: A Life in Climate and Chaos Theory, the story of Dr Jagadish Shukla — a scientist who leapt across continents, chaos theory, and climate politics. His memoir captures a life of graceful leaps over personal pain, global geopolitics, and scientific inertia. But as he writes, too many leaders still stand at the edge, hesitant, staring into the water, waiting. Stay tuned!
Hindustan Times
26 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Pune Police claim ‘no case' under Atrocities Act, say issue resolved through dialogue
PUNE: The Pune police have denied allegations of caste-based abuse and assault by officers during a raid at a residence in Kothrud, even as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) demanded immediate action, including the registration of a case under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Mumbai, India - June 5, 2025:NCP MP Supriya Sule addressing to media during press conference at YB Chavan center in Mumbai, India, on Thursday, June 5, 2025. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times) The controversy stems from an incident earlier this week in which three young women — social workers — accused Kothrud police personnel of forcibly entering their home, illegally detaining them, using casteist slurs, and physically assaulting them. The women alleged that the police targeted them for helping another woman in distress. The allegations triggered political reactions and protests, with Congress and NCP(SCP) accusing the Pune police of high-handedness and caste bias. Harshavardhan Sapkal, president, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, called the incident a reflection of the deteriorating law and order situation in the city. 'Police arrogance is growing, while drug rackets and gangs remain unchecked. The officers responsible for harassing these women must be booked under the Atrocities Act,' he said, questioning why an FIR had not been registered. Nationalist Congress Party (SP) MP Supriya Sule also flagged the matter, stating on social media platform X that she had received a video showing the alleged abuse. 'If the contents of the video are true, it is extremely serious. The Home Minister must take urgent cognisance,' she posted. The incident prompted protests outside the Pune Police Commissionerate late Saturday night. Among those who accompanied the women and demanded accountability was Sujat Ambedkar, son of Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi president Dr Prakash Ambedkar. He questioned the police's failure to register a case under the Atrocities Act and sought a written explanation. However, inspector Sandeep Deshmane, Kothrud Police, in a written response to the complainants, said the initial investigation did not support the version presented by the women. 'Prima facie, the facts do not fall under the scope of the Atrocities Act,' he stated. Amitesh Kumar, Pune Police Commissioner, said, 'The issue has been resolved through dialogue.' Meanwhile, Sambhaji Kadam, deputy commissioner of police (Zone III), said no case under the SC/ST Atrocities Act has been registered. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said, 'Instructions have been given to police not to come under any pressure and act as per the law.'
Indian Express
an hour ago
- Indian Express
Brazil's Supreme Court orders house arrest for former President Bolsonaro, a Trump ally
Brazil's Supreme Court on Monday ordered the house arrest for former President Jair Bolsonaro, on trial for allegedly masterminding a coup plot to remain in office despite his defeat in the 2022 election — a case that has gripped the South American country as it faces a trade war with the Trump administration. Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversees the case against Bolsonaro before the top court, said in his decision that the 70-year-old former president had violated precautionary measures imposed on him by posting content on the social media channels of his three lawmaker sons. The trial of the far-right leader is receiving renewed attention after U.S. President Donald Trump directly tied a 50% tariff on imported Brazilian goods to his ally's judicial situation. Trump has called the proceedings a ' witch hunt,' triggering nationalist reactions from leaders of all branches of power in Brazil, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazil's prosecutors accuse Bolsonaro of heading a criminal organization that plotted to overturn the election, including plans to kill Lula and Justice de Moraes after the far-right leader narrowly lost his reelection bid in 2022. Monday's order followed one from the top court last month that ordered Bolsonaro to wear an electronic ankle monitor and imposed a curfew on his activities while the proceedings are underway. Following news of the arrest order, a staffer with Brazil's federal police told The Associated Press that federal agents had seized cell phones at Bolsonaro's residence in the capital of Brasilia, as ordered by de Moraes in his decision. The staffer spoke on condition of anonymity due to their lack of authorization to speak about the matter publicly. Bolsonaro is expected to remain in Brasilia for his house arrest as he is not allowed to travel. He also has a house in Rio de Janeiro, where he held his electoral base as a lawmaker for three decades. The former army captain is the fourth former president of Brazil to be arrested since the end of the country's military rule from 1964 to 1985, which Bolsonaro supported. The move from the Brazilian justice comes a day after tens of thousands of Bolsonaro supporters took the streets in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio, pleading for Brazil's congress to pardon him and hundreds of others who are either under trial or jailed for their roles in the destruction of government buildings in Brasilia on Jan. 8, 2023. On Sunday, Bolsonaro addressed supporters in Rio through the phone of one of his sons, which de Moraes' described as illegal. 'The flagrant disrespect to the precautionary measures was so obvious that the defendant's son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, decided to remove the posting in his Instagram profile, with the objective of hiding the legal transgression,' de Moraes wrote. Lawyers for the former Brazilian president did not make comments after the decision. Flávio Bolsonaro claimed on X that Brazil 'is officially in a dictatorship' after his father's house arrest. 'The persecution of de Moraes against Bolsonaro has no limits!' the senator wrote. De Moraes added in his ruling that Jair Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022, has spread messages with 'a clear content of encouragement and instigation to attacks against the Supreme Court and a blatant support for foreign intervention in the Brazilian Judiciary' — likely a veiled reference to Trump's support for Bolsonaro. De Moraes also said that Bolsonaro 'addressed protesters gathered in Copacabana, in Rio' on Sunday so his supporters could 'try to coerce the Supreme Court.' Last week, the U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions on de Moraes over alleged suppression of freedom of expression and the ongoing trial of Bolsonaro. Creomar de Souza, a political analyst of Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, a political consultancy firm based in Brasilia, said Bolsonaro's house arrest opens a new moment for the country's opposition, which will could gather steam in fighting against Lula's reelection bid next year. Now, de Souza said, 'the 2026 election looks like turmoil' and the political debate in Brazil will likely be split between two key struggles. 'One is the effort of Bolsonaro supporters to keep strong on the right, no matter if it is pushing for amnesty in congress or putting themselves physically out there,' the analyst said. 'The second is how the Lula administration will try to show that the country has a government.' 'This is just the start,' he concluded. The latest decision from the top court keeps Bolsonaro under ankle monitoring, allows only family members and lawyers to visit him and seizes all mobile phones from his home. Lula was imprisoned for 580 days between 2018 and 2019 in a corruption conviction that was later tossed out by the Supreme Court, citing the bias of the judge in the case. Michel Temer, who became president after Dilma Rousseff was impeached in 2016, was arrested for 10 days in 2019 in connection with a graft investigation, which later ended without a conviction. Earlier this year, de Moraes ordered the detention of President Fernando Collor, who was in office from 1990 to 1992 until he was impeached. The 75-year-old former president was convicted for money laundering and corruption in 2023 and is now serving his more than eight-year sentence.
