New Delhi: The Waqf Bill cleared Parliament after marathon debates in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, on back-to-back nights.
As the Bill, which seeks to amend the 1995 law governing Waqf properties, awaits President Droupadi Murmu’s signature to become law, leaders of two Opposition parties have moved the Supreme Court challenging the Waqf Amendment Act.
AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi and Congress MP Mohammad Jawed have filed petitions in the top court, claiming that the amended Act is discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violates their fundamental rights.
Owaisi, a five-time MP from Hyderabad, challenged amendments in the Bill on the grounds of violation of fundamental rights of Muslims.
Jawed, who was one of the members of Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) on the Waqf Bill, claimed in his petition that the Act violates Article 14 (Right to Equality), 25 (Right to Freedom to Practice Religion), 26 (Right to Freedom to Manage Religious Affairs), 29 (Minority rights) and 300A (Right to Property) of the Constitution, reported Bar and Bench.
“For instance, while Hindu and Sikh religious trusts continue to enjoy a degree of self-regulation, the amendments to the Wakf Act, 1995 (‘Wakf Act’), disproportionately increases state intervention in Waqf affairs. Such differential treatment amounts to a violation of Article 14 in addition to introduction of arbitrary classifications that lack a reasonable nexus to the objectives sought to be achieved, making it impermissible under the doctrine of manifest arbitrariness,” Jawed’s petition stated.
Hours after the bill was passed in Rajya Sabha well past midnight on Thursday, Congress said it would challenge its constitutionality.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh termed the passage of the Bill as an “assault of the Narendra Modi government on the Indian Constitution” and said his party would continue to resist it.
“The bill has been passed in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, just because they have numbers. It is totally unconstitutional. The Congress will carry out a legal battle against the bill,” Congress leader BK Hariprasad said.
