No stay in Waqf case; SC grants 7 days to Centre to respond after assurance

New Delhi: Facing a fierce pushback from the Centre, the Supreme Court on Thursday granted seven days to the Centre after it assured that no appointments would be made to the boards or councils under the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, until the next hearing on May 5. 

The court also streamlined the handling of multiple writ petitions challenging the Act, aiming to ensure an organised and efficient judicial process.

Also read: How Supreme Court’s comparison of Waqf Board with Hindu trust is flawed

Pronouncing the order, Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna said, “During the hearing, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta, representing the respondents, informed the court that the respondents sought seven days to file a short reply. SG Mehta assured that no appointments would be made to the boards or councils under the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, until the next hearing. He further guaranteed that the status of waqfs, including waqf-by-user already declared by notification or gazetted, would remain unchanged during this period. The court directed that the respondents’ reply be filed within seven days, with replies to the same to be submitted within five days of service.”

CJI Khanna emphasised the need to streamline the proceedings due to the influx of petitions. To this end, the court ordered that only five writ petitioners be present in court starting from the next hearing. 

“We only want five here. You select five,” the CJI stated, clarifying that other petitioners would be treated either as applications or as disposed of. The court also renamed the matter as In Re: Waqf Amendment Act to consolidate the proceedings.

The court further directed the appointment of a nodal counsel to coordinate the case. CJI Khanna reiterated that the scope of the matter includes waqfs declared or registered, including waqf-by-user, as per prior notifications or gazette records.

To manage the numerous petitions, the court instructed the parties to identify lead cases, with other petitions to be treated as applications within these lead matters. The court noted the continuous flow of fresh petitions, including some filed as recently as today.

Additionally, the court distinguished between petitions challenging the Waqf Act, 1995, and its 2013 amendments, directing that these be listed separately from those concerning the 2025 Act. As a special measure, petitioners in the 2025 case were granted liberty to file replies. The Union, states, and waqf boards were also directed to submit their replies within seven days, with rejoinders to be filed within five days.