Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan challenges Waqf Bill in Supreme Court

Aam Aadmi Party MLA Amanatullah Khan on Saturday moved the Supreme Court against the 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill on the grounds that it curtailed Muslims’ religious and cultural autonomy, Live Law reported.

A day earlier, Congress MP Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi also filed petitions in the court challenging the bill. In separate petitions, the Opposition MPs claimed the bill was “discriminatory” and “unconstitutional”.

Both Jawed and Owaisi were part of the Joint Parliamentary Committee examining the bill.

Khan, who represents the Okhla seat in the Delhi Assembly, filed his writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, which grants citizens the right to seek constitutional remedies from the Supreme Court if their fundamental rights are violated.

The legislator said that the provisions of the bill have “triggered widespread anxiety among Muslims, particularly due to changes that dilute the religious autonomy and constitutional protections of waqf institutions”.

A waqf is a property dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause under Islamic law. Each state has a waqf board led by a legal entity vested with the power to acquire, hold and transfer property.

The 2024 Waqf Amendment Bill proposed amendments to 44 sections of the 1995 Waqf Act, including allowing non-Muslims on waqf boards, restricting property donations and changing how waqf tribunals function.

On Saturday, President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to...

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