AIMPLB to file contempt plea before Supreme Court against Centre's proposal to launch Waqf Umeed Portal

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) on Tuesday issued a press statement taking exception to the Central government’s move to operationalize the Waqf Umeed Portal from June 6..The press statement alleged that the move by the government is illegal and amounts to contempt of court since the law backing it - the Waqf (Amendment) Act of 2025 - is currently under challenged before the Supreme Court.The AIMPLB said that it will approach the apex court against the government move by filing a contempt of court plea..According to the Board, all Muslim organizations have opposed the law and it has also drawn criticism from opposition parties, human rights groups and minority communities including Sikh and Christian bodies..The AIMPLB alleged that despite the pendency of the matter before the Supreme Court, the government has proceeded to launch the portal and made registration of Waqf properties mandatory through it. The Board contends that such a move constitutes contempt of court as the very basis of the portal—i.e., the validity of the “Waqf 2025” legislation—is sub judice..The press note further appealed to Muslims and State Waqf Boards to refrain from using the portal until the Supreme Court delivers its verdict. .The Supreme Court had just two weeks ago, reserved its verdict in the batch of petitions seeking stay on Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.A Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih heard all parties at length for three days before reserving its order on interim relief..The Lok Sabha had passed the Waqf (Amendment) Act on April 3, while the Rajya Sabha cleared it on April 4. The amendment Act received Presidential assent on April 5.The new law amended the Waqf Act of 1995 in order to address the regulation of Waqf properties which are properties dedicated exclusively for religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law.A batch of petitions were filed before the top court challenging the amendment's validity including by Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Mohammad Jawed and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) MP Asaduddin Owaisi. More such petitions followed in the ensuing days.The petitioners moved the Court contending that the amendment amounts to discrimination against Muslims.According to the petitioners, the amendments selectively target Muslim religious endowments and interfere with the community’s constitutionally protected right to manage its own religious affairs.Six Bhartiya Janta Party-ruled States also moved the Supreme Court in support of the amendment. The intervention applications were filed by the States of Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Assam. These States primarily highlighted how they would be affected in case the constitutionality of the Amendment Act were to be tinkered with.At the core of the challenge is the removal of 'waqf by user' from the statutory definition of waqf.According to the petitioners, this omission would deprive historical mosques, graveyards and charitable properties, many of which have existed for centuries without formal waqf deeds, of their religious character.In response, the Union government has maintained that the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 was brought in to curb the misuse of waqf provisions that were being misused to encroach private and government properties.In a written response to the petitions challenging the new law, the Centre said after the previous amendment to the Waqf Act in 2013, there was a 116 per cent rise in "auqaf area".Defending the abolition of the concept of 'waqf by user', the Centre said despite there being a regime of mandatory registration for all kinds of waqf since 1923, individuals or organisations used to claim private lands and government lands as waqf "which not only lead to deprivation of valuable property rights of individual citizens but similarly unauthorized claims over public properties."The Centre also said that the exclusion of "waqf by user" from the definition of waqf does not curtail the right to dedicate property to God, but merely regulates the form of dedication in keeping with statutory requirements.