Indian SC partially stays Waqf Amendment Act

India's Supreme Court today declined to suspend the entire Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 but stayed two of its key provisions including the one that only a person practising Islam for at least five years can create Waqf.

A Supreme Court bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih pronounced the interim order on whether the Waqf (Amendment) Act in its entirety, passed by the parliament in April, should be stayed or not.

"We have considered prima facie challenge to each of the sections and found no case was made out to stay entire statute… We have held that presumption is always in favour of constitutionality of statute," the bench judges said while passing the order.

The apex court, however, put on hold some sections of the law.

The top court stayed the provision in the Waqf Act that permitted only a person practising Islam for at least five years to create Waqf. The bench said that the provision will stay on hold until states form rules on determining whether a person is a practitioner of Islam.

The court also put on hold a more crucial provision on the powers of district collectors under the act which allocated district collectors with the power to decide whether a property is Waqf or government owned.

The apex court, in its order, said the report of district collectors on a valid Waqf would not lead to change in title of the Waqf property without its endorsement by a High Court.

The Waqf Amendment Act, 2025 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on April 2 and cleared by the House the same day with 288 MPs of ruling BJP and its allies, supporting the Bill while 232 voted against it.

A day later, it was passed in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament with 128 MPs voting in favour of the Bill and 95 against it.