The apex court stayed a few key provisions of the amended law — including the clause that only those practising Islam for the past five years could create a waqf — but refused to halt the entire Act, citing the presumption of constitutionality
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The BJP on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, describing it as a “tight slap” on those questioning the law’s constitutionality and indulging in “politics of fear”.
The apex court stayed a few key provisions of the amended law — including the clause that only those practising Islam for the past five years could create a waqf — but refused to halt the entire Act, citing the presumption of constitutionality.
“Certainly, it’s a welcome decision. The double bench comprising Chief Justice B R Gavai has accepted the amendments brought by the government and rejected the petition against it. There is no stay on the entire operation of the amendments,” BJP national spokesperson Nalin Kohli told PTI.
“The stay is only with respect to one or two areas where the court felt there may be an arbitrary exercise of powers, say by a district magistrate, because it was not defined in terms of what would be the mechanism,” he added.
Kohli said the ruling sends a clear message to those “playing politics of fear” that the government’s move was “constitutionally correct”.
BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya, in a post on X, said the “draconian concept” of Waqf by User had been consigned to the “dustbin of history”. Quoting from the court’s order, he said, “In the totality of the circumstances, we do not find that any case is made out to stay the provisions of the entire statute. The prayer for stay of the impugned Act is, therefore, rejected.”
Another BJP spokesperson, Prem Shukla, said the verdict was a “tight slap” on those spreading misinformation “till yesterday” that the amendments were unconstitutional. “The Supreme Court has not only held it constitutional but also rejected most of the demands of the petitioners,” he asserted.
Party leader and former Union minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain said the decision had “disappointed” those challenging the law. “The court has not put a stay on the Act. Some of its provisions have been put on hold. But overall, the court has accepted the Act,” he said.
In its 128-page verdict, a bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih reiterated that parliamentary enactments enjoy a strong presumption of constitutionality. It said laws should be stayed only in “rare and exceptional” cases where provisions are “ex facie unconstitutional, manifestly arbitrary and violate fundamental rights”.
The provisions put on hold will remain suspended till the court delivers its final ruling on the validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
(With PTI inputs)
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