Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam chief Vijay challenges Waqf law validity in Supreme Court

New Delhi: Actor-turned-politician and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam president Vijay has challenged in the Supreme Court the constitutional validity of the Waqf legislation.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna will hear on April 16 more than a dozen petitions, including one filed by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) leader Asaduddin Owaisi, challenging the constitutional validity of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025.

Besides the CJI, Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice KV Viswanathan are part of the three-judge bench for hearing the petitions, according to the apex court website.

In addition to Owaisi's plea, the top court has listed for hearing petitions filed by AAP MLA Amanatullah Khan, Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, Arshad Madani, Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema, Anjum Kadari, Taiyyab Khan Salmani, Mohd Shafi, Mohd Fazlurrahim and RJD leader Manoj Jha.

A few other petitions are yet to be listed before the bench by the apex court registry.

On April 8, the Centre filed a caveat in the apex court and sought a hearing before any order was passed in the matter.

A caveat is filed by a party in high courts and the apex court to ensure that no orders are passed without hearing it.

The Union government on April 8 notified the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which received President Droupadi Murmu's assent on April 5 after its passage in Parliament following heated debates in both Houses.

The legislation was passed in the Rajya Sabha with 128 members voting in favour and 95 opposing it. It was cleared by the Lok Sabha with 288 members supporting it and 232 against it.

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, DMK, Congress MPs Imran Pratapgarhi and Mohd Jawed, and the CPI through its leader D Raja are other key petitioners.

Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK has moved the top court through its deputy general secretary A Raja and said in a release, "Despite widespread opposition, the Waqf Amendment Bill was passed by the Union government without proper consideration of the objections raised by the members of the JPC (joint parliamentary committee) and the other stakeholders."

The party has said the immediate implementation of the Act infringed upon and prejudiced the rights of about 50 lakh Muslims in Tamil Nadu and 20 crore Muslims in other parts of the country.

Besides political parties, Muslim bodies such as the AIMPLB, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind and the Samastha Kerala Jamiathul Ulema -- a religious organisation of Sunni Muslim scholars and clerics in Kerala -- have also filed separate pleas in the top court.

In a press statement, AIMPLB spokesperson SQR Ilyas has said its petition strongly objected to the amendments passed by Parliament for being "arbitrary, discriminatory and based on exclusion".

The amendments, he has said, not only violated the fundamental rights guaranteed under articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution but also clearly revealed the government's intention to take complete control over the administration of Waqf, therefore, sidelining the Muslim minority from managing its own religious endowments.

Articles 25 and 26 ensure freedom of conscience, the right to practise, propagate religion, and the right to establish and manage institutions for religious and charitable purposes, he has said.

Congress MP Jawed's plea alleged the Act imposed "arbitrary restrictions" on Waqf properties and their management, undermining the Muslim community's religious autonomy.

In his separate plea, AIMIM chief Owaisi said the legislation took away from Waqfs various protection accorded to Waqfs, and Hindus, Jain and Sikh religious and charitable endowments alike.

The Association for the Protection of Civil Rights, an NGO, has also challenged in the top court the law's constitutional validity.

AAP's Delhi MLA Khan has sought the law be declared unconstitutional, being violative of "articles 14, 15, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30 and 300-A of the Constitution".