The apex court refused to stay the entire provisions of the Act, however, pointed out that some sections need some protection. (File Photo)
The Supreme Court of India Monday put on hold the operation of two crucial provisions in the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, however, stated that the entire law can be stayed in “rarest of rare” cases only. It stayed the provision within the Act that required a person to be a practitioner of Islam for five years to create a Waqf, even as it restricted the number of non-Muslims in state waqf boards and central waqf council to three.
The bench stated that the provision will stay on hold until states form rules on determining whether a person is a practitioner of Islam. The apex court refused to stay the entire provisions of the Act, however, pointed out that some sections need some protection. “We have considered prima facie challenge to each of the sections and found no case was made out to stay entire statute… We have held that presumption is always in favour of constitutionality of statute,” the court stated.
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The 2025 Act was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 2 and cleared the House the same day with 288 MPs of the BJP and its allies supporting the Bill, while 232 voted against it. A day later, it was passed in the Upper House following a 14-hour debate but with a much thinner majority. While 128 MPs voted in favour of the Bill, 95 voted against it.
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