New Delhi, May 27- The country's top court today sought responses from the Centre and others on a petition challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995.
A bench of Chief Justice BR Gavai and Justice Augustine George Masih issued notices to the Centre and others seeking their responses on the petition and has joined this petition with the pending petitions and these matters will be heard together.
Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay, appearing for petitioner Nikhil Upadhyay, told the bench that his petition challenges the provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995. He referred to the Supreme Court's April 17 order relating to challenges to the validity of the Wakf (Amendment) Act, 2025.
Upadhyay said that in that order, the court had said that petitions challenging the 1995 Act and the amendments made to it in 2013 will be shown separately in the list of reasons. The Chief Justice asked the counsel appearing for the petitioner why the 1995 Act should be challenged in 2025? He also asked why the petition should not be dismissed on the grounds of delay.
The petitioner’s counsel said that the petition challenged the amendments made in 2013. He said that the Supreme Court is hearing petitions filed in 2020 challenging the provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 and the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992. The bench agreed to hear the petition and tagged it with the already pending petitions.
One of these issues relates to the power of the courts, as stipulated in the 2025 Act, to de-notify properties declared as Waqf, Waqf by user or Waqf by deed.