The Waqf Amendment Bill was introduced in Parliament on Thursday. Many opposition parties including Congress and Samajwadi Party opposed the bill. As per the government through this bill, unlimited powers given to Waqf Board will be curbed besides management of properties would be done in a better and transparent manner. The government has recommended sending it to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC).
What is Waqf?
Waqf can be any movable or immovable property, which any person who believes in Islam can donate for religious purposes. This donated property has no owner. Allah is considered the owner of this donated property. But, some institutions have been created to operate it.
How can Waqf be done?
There can be different ways of doing Waqf. For example, if a person has more than one house and he wants to make one of them Waqf, then he can write in his will about donating one house for Waqf. In such a situation, the family of the person concerned will not be able to use that house after his death. The organization managing the Waqf property will use it for social work. Similarly, anything from shares to house, books to cash can be donated as Waqf. Any Muslim person who is above 18 years of age can Waqf any property present in his name. His family or any other person cannot claim the Waqfed property.
How much property do Waqf Boards have?
According to the Indian Waqf Asset Management System (WAMSI), there are a total of 3,56,047 Waqf properties in the country. Of these, the total number of immovable properties is 8,72,324 and the total number of movable properties is 16,713. The number of digital records is 3,29,995.
What is Waqf Amendment Bill introduced by the government?
For the last several days, discussion are on that the government may introduce a bill related to amendment in the Waqf Board in Parliament. Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 and the Muslim Waqf (Repeal) Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha on August 8. With over 40 amendments, the Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposes to abolish several parts in the existing Waqf Act.
Apart from this, the bill talks about far-reaching changes in the current Act. This also includes ensuring representation of Muslim women in the Central and State Waqf Boards. Along with this, people of any religion can be members of its committees. The Act was last amended in 2013.
What will change with this bill?
It is proposed to remove Section 40 of the Waqf Act 1995. Under this section, the board had the power to decide whether a property is a Waqf property or not. The bill proposes registration of Waqf properties through a central portal and database. Details of properties will have to be entered on the central portal within six months of the implementation of the new Act.
There is a provision to include new sections 3A, 3B and 3C in this bill which are related to certain conditions of Waqf, filing details of Waqf on the portal and database. The bill also has a provision to prevent wrong declaration of Waqf. With this before registering any property as Waqf property, proper notice will have to be given to all concerned.
Representation of Muslim women
The bill proposes that there should be at least two women in the Central Waqf Council and State Waqf Boards. The bill provides for the establishment of separate Auqaf Boards (Auqaf is the plural of Waqf) for the Bohra and Aagakhani communities. Under the change, representation has been given to Shia, Sunni, Bohra, Aagakhani and other backward classes among the Muslim communities.
Earlier, no non-Muslim could be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in the Waqf Board. Now, there is a proposal to amend Section 23 in clause 15 of the bill. Section 23 deals with the appointment of the CEO, his term of office and other conditions of service. It has been provided that the CEO will not be below the rank of Joint Secretary of the State Government and the requirement of him being of any religion will also be removed.
Also as per the new bill, the Central Council will now consist of one Union Minister, three MPs, three representatives of Muslim organizations and three Muslim legal experts. It will also include two former judges of the Supreme Court or High Court, four nationally renowned personalities and senior officials of the Central Government.
Collector to play role of mediator
An important change has been made in the new bill regarding the role of the Collector as mediator. Now the District Collector will have the right to decide whether a property is Waqf or government. Section 3C states that any government property identified or declared as Waqf property before or after the implementation of this Act will not be considered a Waqf property.
If any question arises whether any property is government property, it will be referred to the local collector. The collector will investigate and decide whether the property is government property or not. He will submit his report to the state government. A sub-section has also been added that such property will not be considered a Waqf property until the collector submits his report. According to the existing law, this decision is taken by the Waqf Tribunal. Under Section 3C, the government will necessarily have control over the disputed land, which earlier used to be with the Waqf Boards. The District Collector or Deputy Collector will have the right to survey Waqf properties.
Audit of Waqf property
The new bill will also give the Center the power to direct an audit of any Waqf which would be done by an auditor appointed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India or an officer nominated by the Central Government for this work.
Definition of the right to donate
It has been proposed that only Muslims can donate their movable or other property to the Waqf Council or Board. Apart from this, only the legal owner can take this decision. In the new bill, the government has suggested that the money received by the Waqf Board should be used for the welfare of widows, divorced women and orphans.
Government’s stand on the Bill
Discussing the bill in the House, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said that this bill has been brought on the basis of recommendations of Sachar Committee. It says that there should be two women in the State and Central Waqf Board. “We have brought this bill to implement the recommendations made in this committee. Whatever provisions are there in this bill, no article of the Constitution has been violated. Forget about snatching someone’s right, this bill has been brought to give rights to those who have not got their rights till date. Also many changes have been made earlier also. The amendments made in 1995 were made ineffective through the amendments brought in 2013, so this bill had to be brought. The Waqf Amendment Bill of 1995 has been completely ineffective. Hence this amendment had to be made,” said the minister.
Rijiju told a few people had taken over the Waqf Board and this bill had been brought to do away with the injustice and ensure rights of common Muslim.
On the opposition’s objection regarding the appointment of the collector, Kiren Rijiju said that the collector had the job of looking at revenue records and hence who else should have been appointed to look at the revenue records, if not the collector.
Earlier there were three members in the tribunal but now it will also have a judicial and technical member.
There is a provision in the new bill that in any case, its appeal should be made within 90 days and the case should be settled within six months. Knowledgeable people are needed to run the board. Therefore, good officers will be appointed to run the board. Also the income generated from the Waqf property would be used only for welfare of the Muslim community.
What is the opposition opposing ?
The opposition has raised the demand in Lok Sabha that after introducing the Waqf Amendment Bill in the lower house, it should be sent to Standing Committee of Parliament for scrutiny. Congress MP Pramod Tiwari said that the government should have talked to Muslim organizations before bringing the bill. If the government’s intention is right then the bill should be discussed first.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said in a tweet that all these amendments of the Waqf Board are also just an excuse. Selling land like defense, railways, Nazul land is the target. Akhilesh also said that a written guarantee should be given that the lands of the Waqf Board will not be sold.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said that Modi government wants to snatch the autonomy of the board and wants to interfere in it. He also said that now if you amend the establishment and structure of the Waqf Board, there will be administrative chaos. The autonomy of the Waqf Board will end. If government control increases on the Waqf Board, its independence will be affected. Apart from this, other parties including RJD, NCP (Sharad faction), Shiv Sena (Uddhav faction) have also opposed the proposed law with different arguments.
Violation of Article 26 claims opposition
During the discussion on the bill, Congress MP KC Venugopal citing Article 26 said that this bill has a provision that non-Muslims can also be members of the Waqf Board. This is an attack on the faith and freedom of any religion.
Actually, Article 26 gives freedom to manage religious affairs. The article says that every religious sect or any of its sections will have the right to establish and nurture institutions for religious and charitable purposes. All religious sects or any of their sections will also have the right to manage the works related to their religion.
All religious sects or any of their sections will have the right to acquire and own immovable and movable property. Along with this, there will also be a right to administer such properties according to the law.
Opposing the bill in the House, Akhilesh Yadav said, ‘This bill is a part of well thought out politics. When there is already a process of democratic selection, then why is nomination being done in it. What is the justification for including a non-Muslim member in the Waqf Board.
Who manages Waqf property?
There are Waqf Boards to manage the property of Waqf. These are formed at local and state level. States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar also have separate Shia and Sunni Waqf Boards. Waqf boards formed at the state level take care of these Waqf properties. Maintenance of properties, income from them etc. is taken care of. At the Central level, the Central Waqf Council works to issue guidelines to Waqf Boards of functioning in different states. Cemeteries built across the country are part of Waqf land. All the Muslim cemeteries in the country are maintained by Waqf.
There are about 30 established 30 Waqf Boards in India, most of which have their headquarters in the state capitals. These manage Waqf properties in states or union territory.
All Waqf Boards work under the Waqf Act 1995. According to the Indian Waqf Asset Management System, Waqf boards are associated with the religious, social and economic life of Muslims. They are not only helping mosques, dargahs, graveyards etc., but many of them also support schools, colleges, hospitals, dispensaries and Musafirkhanas, which are made for social welfare.
Post independence, Waqf Act-1954 was made for the property of Waqf and its maintenance. Some changes were made in it in 1995. After this, some more amendments were made in this Act in 2013. According to this, the State Waqf Board will appoint a Survey Commissioner. The Survey Commissioner will keep an account of all the properties of Waqf in the state. Registration of Will Deed, Calling witnesses, settling cases of any dispute is done by the Survey Commissioner. For this, there is an office of the Survey Commissioner, in which there are many surveyors who do this work. The person who takes care of the Waqf property at the local level is called Mutawalli. He is appointed by the State Waqf Board.
