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The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to list an application seeking extension of the timeline for mandatory registration of all Waqf properties, including Waqf-by-users under the UMEED portal.
According to the mandate of the UMEED portal, details of all registered Waqf properties across India are to be mandatorily uploaded within six months. A bench headed by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai said it would hear the matter after advocate Nizam Pasha, appearing for AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi, said that an application seeking extension of time for registration of Waqf properties should be extended. "Let it be listed, listing does not mean granting," the CJI said. Pasha stated that six months were allocated in the amended law for the registration of Waqf properties. "Five months went during the judgement, we now only have one month left for the registration," said the advocate seeking listing of the application. On September 15, in an interim order, the apex court had refused to stay the entire provisions of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025; however, it put on hold certain provisions until petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of the Act are finally decided. It stayed a clause that only those practising Islam for the last five years could create a Waqf. It held that the Centre's order to delete the Waqf-by-user provision in the newly-amended Waqf law was "prima facie not arbitrary" and the argument that Waqf lands would be grabbed by governments held "no water". Waqf-by-user refers to a practice where a property is recognised as a religious or charitable endowment based on its long-term, uninterrupted use for such purposes, even if there isn't a formal, written declaration of Waqf by the owner. The top court's order had come on a batch of petitions challenging the Act, contending that it was discriminatory towards the Muslim community and violates their fundamental rights. (ANI)
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