New Delhi, April 16 . An important hearing was held in the Supreme Court on Wednesday on the petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act. A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna heard the arguments of both the Muslim side and the pro-amendment side. During the hearing, there was a special discussion on various amended sections such as Section 3, 9, 14, 36 and 83.
The advocates of the Muslim side argued that these amendments are violating their fundamental rights granted by the Constitution. In particular, the rights of religious freedom given in Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution have been violated. They said that the amendment interferes in their religious matters.
At the same time, the Solicitor General on behalf of the Central Government and senior advocates on behalf of the supporters of the Act assured the Supreme Court that the amendments made in the Waqf Act are completely constitutional and there is no violation of fundamental rights in them.
During the hearing, the Hon’ble Court in its preliminary observation said that most of the amendments appear to be in line with the Constitution. However, the Court has sought clarity on the definition of ‘user’. Apart from this, the Court has also sought clarification from the Central Government regarding the role of Hindu members in the formation of the Waqf Council.
The Court has asked the Solicitor General and the advocates of the Hindu side to provide special assistance and clarification on both these issues. Now the next hearing of this case will be held on Thursday at 2 pm.
Earlier, senior advocates started presenting their arguments in this important case before a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal started the debate on behalf of the petitioners, after which Abhishek Manu Singhvi presented his arguments.
Advocate Singhvi told the Court that there are about eight lakh Waqf properties across the country, out of which more than four lakh properties are registered as ‘Waqf by User’. They expressed concern that these properties are under threat after the amendment made in the Waqf Act.
During the hearing, Chief Justice Sanjeev Khanna said that when he was in Delhi High Court, he was told that the land was a Waqf property. He said, “Don’t get us wrong, we are not saying that all Waqf by User properties are wrong.”
With this, the debate between the two sides continued on Wednesday and the Supreme Court has again scheduled the hearing on Thursday at 2 pm.
