The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to consider interim relief on May 20, 2025, regarding the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) B. R. Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih addressed the matter on May 15, 2025, asking senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Union government, to submit their written notes by May 19, 2025.
During the May 15 hearing, CJI Gavai clarified that the court would only consider the issue of interim relief on May 20. The bench also stated that it would not entertain any pleas seeking a stay on the provisions of the Waqf Act of 1995. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing a party in the case, had previously challenged provisions of the 1995 Act and now raised questions about certain provisions of the 2025 Amendment Act. The court directed him to approach the High Court regarding the challenge to the 1995 Act, as those petitions were never taken up.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, has faced scrutiny on several grounds, including the definition of "waqf by user," the nomination of non-Muslims to Waqf boards, and the identification of government land as waqf property. The Centre, however, defends the Act, opposing any stay and highlighting a substantial increase in the number of recorded waqf properties.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed the court that the government had filed a detailed response to the challenge. He and Kapil Sibal suggested adjourning the hearing to a later date, allowing the CJI more time to review the case brief. The law officer assured the court that the Centre would not denotify any waqf properties, including those established by "waqf by user". Additionally, he stated that no appointments would be made to the Central Waqf Council or State Waqf Boards under the new law.
The central ministry of minority affairs had previously filed a 1,332-page affidavit defending the amended Waqf Act of 2025 and argued against any "blanket stay" on the law, emphasizing the "presumption of constitutionality" of an act passed by Parliament. The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss the petitions, denouncing what it describes as a "mischievous false narrative" surrounding certain provisions of the Act. The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, was notified after receiving President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5, 2025.
The Supreme Court had previously limited the number of petitions in the case to five, clarifying that this restriction applied to the number of petitions and not the number of lawyers involved. The case was initially heard by a bench led by former CJI Sanjiv Khanna, who demitted office on May 13, 2025, leading to the transfer of the matters to the bench headed by Justice Gavai.
