UP govt to seize illegally declared Waqf properties

Lucknow: A day after the passage of the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025 in the Rajya Sabha, the Uttar Pradesh government said that it would seize the properties, which have been ‘illegally’ declared as Waqf properties, in the state.

According to the sources, the state government has directed the district magistrates to launch a campaign in their respective districts to identify such properties and initiate the process to seize them.

Sources said that only 2963 Waqf properties existed in the records of the state revenue department, though the number of unrecorded properties was more than 1.30 lakh. ‘’There is a possibility that a large number of properties have been illegally declared as Wqaf properties,’’ said an official here on Friday.

Sources added that the lands belonging to ‘gram samaj’(village community), ponds and others have been declared as Waqf properties in the state, even though only donated lands could be declared as Waqf properties.

The state revenue department was conducting a survey in the state to ascertain how many such properties were declared as Waqf properties.

Sources said that the maximum number of Waqf properties was in the Barabanki, Sitapur, Bareilly, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Rampur districts.

‘’The district magistrates will verify the properties and send their reports to the government after action will be taken in accordance with the provisions of the amended Waqf Bill,’’ the official added.

Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Fakhrul Hasan said that his party had apprehended such a move by the state government. ‘’We knew that the new Waqf Bill was meant to enable the government to seize Waf properties,’’ he added.