Explainer: Waqf Amendment Bill in LS tomorrow, what it entails
The BJP-led NDA government is all set to table the controversial Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, setting the stage for potential confrontation with the opposition parties resisting the Bill. The Bill seeks to amend a 1995 law that currently regulates waqf properties in India and comes at a time when the All India Muslim Personal Law Board is agitating against it across the country.
Under the Muslim law, waqf is defined as a dedication of movable or immovable property for charitable, religious or pious purpose. The government has said that waqf land in India spanned 9 lakh acres -- many times the size of some smaller Muslim countries -- and there was a case for its efficient regulation. The Muslim side, supported by Congress-led INDIA bloc partners, says the Bill is anti-minority.
The Waqf Amendment Bill-2024 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on August 8, 2024. A day later, it was referred to a joint committee of both houses of Parliament. The committee, chaired by BJP's Jagdambika Pal, submitted its report to the Parliament on February 13 this year.
Read: Lok Sabha to take up Waqf Amendment Bill on April 2
CONTENTIOUS ISSUES
1. Removal of ‘waqf by user’ clause
The original Bill allows creation of waqf by way of declaration, endowment and also long-term use of the land for waqf purposes. The amendment Bill did away with this provision of "waqf by user”. The JPC said the removal of the clause "waqf by user" should apply for future, not retrospective purposes.
2. Who can create waqf?
The parent law allows anyone to create waqf. The Bill required that a person who has been practising Islam for at least five years be allowed to create a waqf. The JPC made this provision even more stringent and said such a person should also demonstrate that he or she had been a practising Muslim for at least five years.
3. Who will decide what is waqf?
The parent law allows the Waqf Tribunal to adjudicate in all matters related to disputed land. The Bill says in case of a dispute between whether a certain piece of land is waqf or government, the district collector will adjudicate the matter. The JPC said a person higher in rank than DC, appointed by the state government, should adjudicate. The JPC report notes that several properties of the government had been wrongfully taken over by waqf boards on the basis of ‘waqf by user’. As of September 5, 2024, in 25 out of 32 states, 5,973 government properties have been declared as waqf by state waqf boards. The ASI told the JPC that 280 protected monuments had been declared waqf properties. Currently 58, 898 properties have been reported as under encroachment.
4. Waqf registration
The Bill mandates registration of all wakf properties in six months of the enforcement of the new law after which people would not be able to move court for ownership of such properties. The JPC said legal proceedings and their timeline should be left to the judgment of the courts.
5. Waqf tribunal
The parent law provides for a Muslim CEO but the Bill allows for a non-Muslim CEO. The Bill adds that two of the total members of the board appointed under this subsection, excluding ex-officio members, shall be non-Muslim. The original Bill does not mention the term "excluding ex-officio members". The Bill also allows for Bohra, Aghakhani representation.
