Concerns of Muslims well-founded: Kerala moves Supreme Court to oppose Waqf Amendment Act

The Kerala government has moved a plea before the Supreme Court to register its opposition to the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025..It has sought the top court's permission to intervene in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Amendment Act. The State has submitted that the concerns of the Muslim community in Kerala regarding the likelihood of the amendment being used to discriminate against Muslims in the management of religious affairs, including waqf properties, are well-founded."There is quite a large percentage (of) Muslims in Kerala and they have got their own waqf and waqf properties. They have got genuine apprehension that implementation of the present amendment Act would deny them their fundamental rights under the Constitution including Article 25; and that the implementation would negate or alter the nature and status of waqf and waqf properties. The State feels that the apprehension of the Muslim minority in Kerala that they are discriminated against in the matter of right to manage religious affairs, the waqf and waqf properties is genuine," the plea said. .Waqf properties are religious endowments or properties dedicated exclusively for religious or charitable purposes under Islamic law.The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, passed earlier this year, brought in substantial changes to the earlier law regulating such properties, namely the Waqf Act of 1995.The Lok Sabha had passed the law on April 3, while the Rajya Sabha cleared it on April 4. The amendment Act received Presidential assent on April 5.A slew of petitions were filed shortly afterwards, challenging the amendment's validity, although the top court has indicated that it would only hear five petitioners.The petitioners have contended that the amendment amounts to discrimination against Muslims and unwarranted interference in Islamic religious affairs and the management of waqf properties.The State of Kerala has now joined the petitioners in raising concerns about the amendment. There are genuine apprehensions that the amendment is deeply unjust, and its constitutional validity is questionable, the plea filed through Advocate on Record CK Sasi stated."Many of the provisions of the amendment Act are highly unjust and the Constitutional validity is doubtful. The State of Kerala is therefore very much interested in the outcome of the present Writ Petitions," the plea reads. .The Union government has defended the amendment, arguing that it was brought in to curb the misuse of waqf provisions that were being invoked to encroach on private and government properties.Meanwhile, six Bharatiya Janta Party-ruled States also joined the Central government in defending the amendment. These intervention applications have been filed by the States of Haryana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Assam. These States have primarily highlighted how they would be affected in case the constitutionality of the Amendment Act were to be tinkered with.Interestingly, a Kerala-based Hindu organisation, named the Sree Narayana Manava Dharmam Trust, has also moved a plea opposing the amendment, arguing that it threatens the very existence of the Muslim community in India.On April 17, the Central government assured the Bench, then led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, that it would not enforce several key provisions of the Act for the time being. The Court recorded this assurance and decided not to order any express stay.The matter is slated to be heard later today by a Bench comprising CJI BR Khanna and Justice AG Masih.