Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress of spreading the "virus of vote bank politics" by opposing the Act.
Published Apr 14, 2025 | 2:46 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 14, 2025 | 6:00 PM
Supreme Court of India. (iStock)
Synopsis: Congress Secretary Mansoor Ali Khan filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. The petition said institutions of the Muslim community are at risk of disempowerment, administrative encroachment, and forced restructuring.
Congress Secretary Mansoor Ali Khan filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court against the recently enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 on Monday, 14 April.
Advocate Shivangi Anand, on behalf of Khan, also sent an urgency letter to the Supreme Court Registrar, saying that the Act will have a “chilling effect on associational and religious freedoms”.
Several others, including Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) chief Vijay, AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi, Congress MPs Mohammad Jawed and Imran Pratapgarhi, Aam Admi Party (AAP) MLA Amanatullah Khan, Azad Samaj Party chief Chandra Shekhar Azad, and Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Zia Ur Rehman Barq have also challenged the Act in the apex court.
On Monday evening, the YSR Congress Party announced that it had also filed a petition in the apex court, challenging the act on the grounds of serious constitutional violations.
YSRCP has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Waqf Act, citing serious constitutional violations and failure to address the concerns of the Muslim community.
The Bill violates Articles 13, 14, 25, and 26 of the Constitution—provisions that guarantee fundamental…
— YSR Congress Party (@YSRCParty) April 14, 2025
Khan said a delay in hearing the matter would cause irreparable harm, legal extinction of long-standing religious usage and a situation that cannot be reversed by subsequent orders of the court.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused Congress of spreading the “virus of vote bank politics” by opposing the Act.
“There are lakhs of hectares of land in the name of Waqf. If benefits from Waqf properties had been given to the needy, it would have benefitted them. But the land mafia benefitted from these properties. The loot of the poor will stop with this amended Waqf law. Under the new Waqf law, land or property belonging to any Adivasi cannot be touched by the Waqf Board. Poor Muslims and Pasmanda Muslims will get their rights. This is real social justice,” said Modi during an event in Haryana.
The Congress leader, in his petition, said he has been engaged in the administration and management of religious, social, cultural, and educational institutions established for the betterment and advancement of the Muslim community in Karnataka, as well as for other sections of society.
He said that the Act is violative of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and the constitutional right to property under Article 300A of the Constitution of India.
Khan said the sweeping changes introduced by the Amendment Act — including the dilution of community-led governance, restriction on dedications, and presumption of non-Waqf status — threaten the viability and continuity of these institutions.
“These developments have immediate and adverse consequences for their functioning and long-term planning,” he said.
He added that the impugned provisions empower the executive to interfere in religious property without prior adjudication and safeguards ensuring transparency or community participation.
“In particular, they allow designated officers to unilaterally reclassify Waqf land as non-Waqf, bypassing Waqf Boards and judicial forums. This violates both procedural fairness and the rights of citizens to religious self-governance,” Khan said.
The petition said institutions of the Muslim community are at risk of disempowerment, administrative encroachment, and forced restructuring all of which would render the present petition infructuous and constitutional protections illusory if urgent intervention is not granted.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
