On April 29, 2025, the Supreme Court of India firmly declined to entertain any more fresh writ petitions against the Waqf Amendment Act 2025. However, the Court offered an alternative route to the petitioners by granting them liberty to withdraw their petitions and instead apply as intervenors in the already ongoing batch of hearings challenging the Act.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, was hearing about 11 fresh petitions. These included pleas by public figures and organisations like J&K MLA Arjun Singh Raju, Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien, and All India Muslim Vikas Parishad, among others.
"Nothing will be entertained now. You file an impleadment application—all of them. Some of them are verbatim the same,"
– Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna
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During the hearing, Advocate for Firoz Iqbal Khan argued that the word ‘waqf’ has Quranic origins and that the amended Act misrepresents this concept. He urged that his petition be considered individually. However, the Court noted that most new petitions were either identical or copied, and therefore lacked unique legal grounds.
Justice Sanjay Kumar reinforced the Court's stance, stating:
“Have you heard what the CJI has said? We are not entertaining writ petitions. If you have something new, file an application and raise additional grounds—that’s all.”
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The Court also heard submissions relating to the ‘Waqf Assets Management System of India’ portal, which holds vast data on Waqf properties. Petitioners requested that it not be dismantled. The Chief Justice responded by affirming that the Court is already dealing with five core petitions on the same issue and urged others to raise their points through impleadment applications.
“We are not denying anyone the opportunity of hearing. All that we are saying is five cases have been filed. You want to raise additional grounds, please move an application,”
– Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna
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When the bench was asked to treat these new petitions as interim applications, the CJI expressed concern that many were repetitive and copy-pasted without adding new points. He refrained from naming sources but noted the problem openly.
The Court made it clear that those wanting to withdraw their petitions may do so in writing, with liberty to file impleadment applications in the ongoing case.
Currently, the matter is being heard by a three-judge bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice KV Viswanathan.
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Earlier, on April 17, the Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta submitted that under the amended law:
- Non-Muslims will not be appointed to the Central and State Waqf Boards.
- No de-notification of waqfs, including waqf-by-user, will take place until further notice.
“The Court has fixed the next hearing for May 5 at 2 PM and renamed the matter as ‘In Re: Waqf Amendment Act’. Only five original petitions will be heard, and all others may join as intervenors,”
– Supreme Court Bench
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The Waqf Amendment Act 2025 was passed by Parliament on April 4, got the President’s assent on April 5, and came into effect on April 8. The Ministry of Minority Affairs recently submitted a preliminary affidavit defending the Act.
The following major petitions are involved in the ongoing matter:
- Firoz Iqbal Khan vs. Union of India – W.P.(C) No. 341/2025
- Derek O’Brien and Anr. vs. Union of India – W.P.(C) No. 425/2025
- All India Muslim Vikas Parishad and Ors. vs. Union of India – Diary No. 19896-2025
- Imarat Shariah vs. Union of India – W.P.(C) No. 370/2025
- Arjun Singh Raju and Ors. vs. Union of India – Diary No. 20007-2025
The Court's clear directive aims to streamline proceedings and prevent duplication while ensuring all parties have the opportunity to present valid arguments in a unified and structured manner.
