The Centre seems all set to make amendments to the Waqf Act, 1995 to restrict the powers of the Waqf Board, according to reports. India Today has reported that there are 40 amendments aimed to restrict the Waqf Board’s authority to designate any property as “Waqf property”.
“As per the proposed amendments, all claims made by the Waqf Board on properties will undergo mandatory verification. A mandatory verification process is proposed for properties claimed by the Waqf Board,” India Today reports, adding that the bill for these amendments is likely to be introduced in Parliament’s current session.
Waqf Act, 1995 was established to regulate Auqaf, meaning assets donated and designated as Waqf — by a wakif, – an individual who dedicates his/her property for purposes recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious, or charitable.
The proposed amendments talk about inclusivity by including Muslim women members to various State bodies. In fact, Muslims themselves are not against this, as Islam permits a woman to be a mutawalli – manager of a Waqf property, or be a member of any Waqf Board, as it is a managerial position and does not require any specific training of Islamic laws, according to a Mufti, associated with the Islamic Fiqh Academy, Delhi. In fact, even the AIMPLB has several women members, he added further. So, this excuse is to mislead the wider populace that Muslims are against including a woman member to the various Waqf bodies.
The groundwork for bringing this bill was laid last year when a PIL was filed by lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay in March 2023, the Centre had told the Delhi High Court that nearly 120 writ petitions challenging one or more provisions of the Waqf Act were pending before various courts in the country.
Upadhyay had challenged the validity of certain provisions of the Waqf Act and sought........