Shabbir Ali Welcomes SC Stay On Key Waqf Act Clauses

Advisor to the Telangana government and senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir today termed the Supreme Court's interim stay on certain provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, as a "welcome relief" that acknowledged and validated the concerns raised by minority communities, civil society groups and constitutional experts.

Shabbir Ali, who is among the petitioners challenging the law, said the court's decision to stay the implementation of two controversial clauses marked a crucial step in protecting the constitutional rights of Muslims and the autonomy of Waqf institutions.

"The Supreme Court has stayed the provision that required a person to be a practising Muslim for five years in order to create a waqf, and another provision that authorised government officials to adjudicate disputes over Waqf encroachments. These were among the most dangerous parts of the 2025 amendments, and we are relieved that the Hon'ble Court has intervened," he said.

The Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, passed by Parliament earlier this year, had triggered widespread criticism for allegedly undermining the independence of the Waqf Boards and infringing on religious freedoms. Several PILs were filed before the Supreme Court, with Shabbir Ali and other co-petitioners arguing that the law violated Articles 14, 21 and 25 of the Constitution by imposing arbitrary restrictions on the creation of Waqf properties and weakening institutional safeguards.

Shabbir Ali said that while the Supreme Court had not stayed the entire law, the interim relief provided was not just symbolic, it was substantive. It demonstrated that the judiciary had taken note of the flawed drafting and unconstitutional intent behind key clauses of the Act, he said.

"This is not just a procedural stay. It is a judicial acknowledgment that some provisions of the new law may indeed be unconstitutional. We welcome this relief, but this is only the beginning," Shabbir Ali said.

He said that the requirement of being a practising Muslim for five years in order to create a Waqf was not only discriminatory but also deviated from centuries-old Islamic jurisprudence and customary practices that governed Waqf creation in India. "The BJP-led NDA government at the Centre tried to introduce religious policing in property matters by inserting arbitrary faith tests. This would have opened the door to harassment, exclusion and legal chaos," he said.

On the other stayed clause, which allowed government-appointed officials to settle disputes about Waqf encroachments, Shabbir Ali argued that such power would have compromised due process, as encroachment disputes typically required judicial adjudication, not administrative orders. "The Waqf Board's ability to legally reclaim its land depends on the sanctity of an independent judicial process. Authorising executive officers to play judge in such matters is not just illegal but dangerous," he said.