New Delhi: The Supreme Court of India on Monday refused pleas to extend the six-month deadline for uploading details of Waqf properties to the UMEE D portal, saying that applicants may approach the relevant Waqf Tribunal for case-by-case relief.
The court observed that any technical problems in digitising records could be taken into account by the Tribunal when considering an extension.
“Approach the tribunal. Let them decide on a case-to-case basis. We can’t rewrite the Waqf Act,” the court remarked, adding that the statute already provides a remedy.
The UMEED portal — launched by the government on June 6 — aims to create a digital inventory of all Waqf properties across India by geo-tagging and uploading relevant property details. Under the mandate, all registered Waqf properties must be registere
d on the portal within six months.
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing petitioners, argued that the six-month window was too short, especially since many Waqf properties date back decades (100–125 years) and relevant historical data — such as the identity of the original donors (Waqifs) — may be missing, making upload impossible without deeper research.
The government, represented by Tushar Mehta, responded that the law already allows individual Waqf bodies to approach the Tribunals for extension, on a case-by-case basis, and insisted the deadline — December 6 — remains in force.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes in the context of the recent Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which requires mandatory registration of Waqf properties via the UMEED portal. While the Court has stayed certain controversial provisions of the amended law (such as the requirement that a Waqif must have practised Islam for at least five years), it refused to stay the registration mandate.
With December 6 approaching as the final date, many caretakers (muttawallis) and Waqf bodies face pressure to complete registration — or risk having to file separate applications before various Waqf Tribunals for case-specific relief.