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2025 Supreme(Online)(SC) 2378
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
SANJIV KHANNA, CJI., SANJAY KUMAR, J, K.V. VISWANATHAN, JJ.
Asaduddin Owaisi – Appellant
Versus
Union of India – Respondent
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 269/2025
For the Petitioner(s): Mr. Pradeep Kumar Yadav, Adv. Mr. Gopal Singh, Adv. Ms. Anjale Kumari, Adv. Mr. Ashwani Garg, Adv. Mr. Tota Ram, Adv. Mr. P Murugesan, Adv. Mr. Sunil Kumar Srivastava, Adv. Ms. Shweta Suman, Adv. Mr. Ahmad Khan, Adv. Mr. Sanjeev Malhotra, AOR Mr. Zulfiker Ali P. S, AOR Mr. Kapil Sibal, Sr. Adv. Mr. Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, AOR Ms. Rupali Samuel, Adv. Mr. Ibad Mushtaq, Adv. Mr. Mustafa Khaddam Hussain, Adv. Ms. Akanksha Rai, Adv. Mr. Mujahid Ahmed, Adv. Mr. Shahid Nadeem, Adv. Ms. Gurneet Kaur, Adv. Mr. Hasan Raza Khan, Adv. Mr. Chander Uday Singh, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rajiv Shakdher, Sr. Adv. Mr. Adeel Ahmed, AOR Mr. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Adv. Mr. Junaid Ansari, Adv. Mr. Raja Chatterjee, Adv. Ms. Taqdees Fatima, Adv. Ms. Katyayani, Adv. Mr. Piyush Sachdev, Adv. Mr. Arshad Ayyub, Adv. Mr. Mohd Ghouse Muddin Khan, Adv. Mr. Karan Khetani, Adv. Mr. Abdur Razzaque Bhuyan, Adv. Mr. Jonathan Ivan Rajan, Adv. Mr. Jahangir Iqbal, Adv. Ms. Maithli Moondra, Adv. Mr. Mohd Danish, Adv. Mr. Nizam Pasha, Adv. Mr. Lzafeer Ahmad B. F., AOR Ms. Awstika Das, Adv. Mr. Mushtaq Salim, Adv. Mr. Madhav Deepak, Adv. Mr. Sidharth Kaushik, Adv. Mr. Shubham Arun, Adv. Mr. Arif Ali, Adv. Mr. Sachin Dubey, Adv. Ms. Fauzia Shakil, AOR Mr. Ujjwal Singh, Adv. Mr. Rahul Tomar, Adv. Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv. Mr. M R Shamshad, Sr. Adv. Mr. Amit Bhandari, Adv. Mr. Talha Abdul Rahman, AOR Mr. Arijit Sarkar, Adv. Mr. M Shaz Khan, Adv. Mr. Faizan Ahmad, Adv. Mr. Rafid Akhter, Adv. Mr. Sudhanshu Tewari, Adv. Ms. Priyansha Sharma, Adv. Mr. Sarwar Raza, Adv. Mr. M. R. Shamshad, Sr. Adv. Mr. Wajeeh Shafiq, AOR Mr. Vishwajeet Kumar, Adv. Ms. Shaista Siddiqui, Adv. Mr. Naman Jain, Adv. Ms. Zeb Hasaan, Adv. Mr. Tariq Adeeb, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. K.M. Nataraj, A.S.G. Mr. Vikramjit Banerjee, A.S.G. Mr. S.D. Sanjay, A.S.G. Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G. Mr. Raghavendra P.shankar, Adv. Mr. K. Parmeshwaran, Adv. Mr. Anil Kaushik, Adv. Mr. P.V. Yogeswaran, Adv. Mr. Karan Lahiri, Adv. Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Aastha Singh, Adv. Mr. Gaurang Bhushan, Adv. Ms. Sansriti Pathak, Adv. Mr. Sudarshan Lamba, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Prafulla Kumar Bharat, Advocate General Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Vaibhav Yeshwant Kulkarni, AOR Mr. Shridhar Pottraju, Sr. Adv. Ms. Pratima Nain Lakra, AOR Ms. Mahima Pandey, Adv. Mr. Vikas Lakra, Adv. Mr. Chandan Prajapati, Adv. Mr. Aditya Sharma, Adv. Mr. Shreeyas U Lalit, Adv. Mr. Aakash Dixit, Adv. Mr. Pallav Mongia, Adv. Mr. Devesh Mohan, Adv. Mr. Arvind Kumar, Adv. Mr. Chand Qureshi, AOR Mr. Mohit Yadav, Adv. Dr. P.B. Reddy, Adv. Ms. Patnam Shyla, Adv. Ms. C.S. Hema, Adv. Ms. Snehasree Lakkamaneni, Adv. Ms. Arpana Soni, Adv. Ms. Preeti Chauhan, Adv. Mr. Barun Kumar Sinha, Adv. Mrs. Pratibha Sinha, Adv. Mr. Sneh Vardan, Adv. Mr. Siddant Thakur, Adv. Mr. Bhuwan Raj, AOR Mrs. Manju Savita, Adv. Mr. Himanshu Sood, Adv. Mr. Anubhav Mehrotra, Adv. Ms. Mrinal Gopal Elker, AOR Mr. Farook M. Razack, Sr. Adv. Mr. Rizwan Merchant, Adv. Mr. Faisal Farook, Adv. Mr. Shubail Farook, Adv. Mr. Kshitij Kumar, Adv. Mr. Ranjay Kumar Dubey, AOR Mr. Chandrashekhar Singh, Adv. Mr. Shashank Shekhar Singh, Adv. Mr. Arjun D. Singh, Adv. Mr. Gaichangpou Gangmei, Adv. Mr. J. Prasad, Adv. Mr. Yimyanger Longkumer, Adv. Mr. Maitreya Mahaley, Adv. Mr. Abhinav Singh, Adv. M/s. A G Veritas Law, AOR Mr. Vikas Singh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Vanshaja Shukla, AOR Mr. Siddhant Yadav, Adv. Mr. Ajay Bahuguna, Adv. Mr. Pitambar Acharya, Advocate General Mr. Maninder Singh, Sr. Adv. Ms. Samapika Biswal, AOR Ms. Soumya Sannidhanam, Adv. Mr. Rakesh Dwivedi, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shiv Mangal Sharma, A.A.G. Ms. Nidhi Jaswal, AOR Mr. K. Parameshwar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Shuvodeep Roy, AOR Mr. Deepayan Dutta, Adv. Mr. Saurabh Tripathi, Adv. Mr. Arvind Datar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Siddharth Dharmadhikari, Adv. Mr. Aaditya Aniruddha Pande, AOR Mr. Bharat Bagla, Adv. Mr. Abhikalp Pratap Singh, Adv. Ms. Gayatri Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Utkarsh Kumar, Adv. Mr. Sourav Singh, Adv. Mr. Aditya Krishna, Adv. Mr. Adarsh Dubey, Adv. Mr. S. Guru Krishna Kumar, Sr. Adv. Ms. C. Ankeeta Appanna, AOR Ms. Madhura Chitnis, Adv. Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Subodh Pathak, Adv. Mr. Amit Mishra, Adv. Mr. Mitakshara Goyal, Adv. Mr. Sudipto Sarkar, Adv. Mr. Shriya Gilhotra, Adv. Mr. Amit Sharma, Adv. Mr. Yashraj Bundela, Adv. Mr. Rahul G Tanwani, Adv. Mr. Venkata Raghuvamsy D., AOR Mr. Ranjit Kumar, Sr. Adv. Mr. Akshay Amritanshu, AOR Mr. Lokesh Sinhal, Sr. A.A.G. Ms. Drishti Rawal, Adv. Ms. Pragya Upadhyay, Adv. Ms. Drishti Saraf, Adv. Mr. Nikunj Gupta, Adv. Ms. Aakanksha, Adv. Ms. Ishika Gupta, Adv. Mr. Sarthak Arya, Adv. Ms. Divya Jyoti Singh, AOR Mr. Sadashiv, AOR Mr. Pranav Kumar Srivastva, Adv. Mr. Sachin Agarwal, Adv. Mr. Prashant Andrew Leo, Adv. Mr. Ashish Singh, Adv. Mr. Ashish Pandey, Adv. Mr. Devendra Kumar Gupta, Adv. Ms. Vandana, Adv. Mr. Nishant Sanjay Kumar Singh, Adv. Ms. Pushpa Gupta, Adv. Mr. Syed Shahid Hussain Rizvi, AOR Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Kanu Agarwal, Adv. Ms. Deepanwita Priyanka, AOR Mr. Anuj Chaudhary, Adv. Mr. Tushar Mehta, Solicitor General Mr. Prafulla Kumar Bharat, Advocate General Ms. Ankita Sharma, AOR Mr. Muhammad Ali Khan, AAG Mr. Omar Hod, Adv. Ms. Eesha Bakshi, Adv. Mr. Kamran Khan, Adv. Mr. D.L. Chidananda, AOR
The court emphasized maintaining the status quo regarding Waqfs and appointments until the next hearing, ensuring fairness in the proceedings.
Headnote:(A) Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 - Sections 9 and 14 - Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 - Respondents assured that no appointments to the Central Waqf Council or Waqf Boards will be made until the next hearing, and any such appointments made will be declared void. No Waqf shall be de-notified or have its status changed until the next hearing. (Paras 1-2)
(B) Writ petitions - Five writ petitions treated as lead cases challenging the 1995 Waqf Act and its amendments, with provisions for responses and rejoinders established. (Paras 5-10)
(C) Preliminary hearing - The court clarified that the next hearing will be a preliminary one, with interim orders to be passed if necessary. (Paras 11-12)
Facts of the case:
The case involves multiple writ petitions challenging the 1995 Waqf Act and its amendments, with specific assurances from the respondents regarding appointments and status changes of Waqfs.
Findings of Court:
The court took on record the respondents' assurances and established timelines for filing responses and rejoinders.
Issues: The main issues addressed include the validity of appointments to the Waqf Council and Boards and the status of Waqfs pending the hearing.
Ratio Decidendi: The court emphasized the importance of maintaining the status quo regarding Waqfs and appointments until the next hearing to ensure fairness in the proceedings.
Result: The matter is to be re-listed on 05.05.2025 at 02.00 p.m.
ORDER
During the course of the hearing, Mr. Tushar Mehta, the learned Solicitor General, stated that the respondents would like to file a reply/response within a period of seven days from today. He assures this Court that till the next date of hearing, no appointments would be made to the Central Waqf Council and the Waqf Boards in the States and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, under Sections 9 and 14 respectively of the principal Act, that is, the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995 ,1 [For short, “1995 Waqf Act”] as amended by the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. He further states that if the Government of any State or the National Capital Territory of Delhi makes any such appointment(s), the same may be declared void.
2. It is also stated that till the next date of hearing, no Waqf, including a Waqf by user, whether declared by way of notification or by way of registration, shall be de-notified, nor will their character or status be changed.
3. We take these statements on record.
4. Rejoinder affidavit to the reply/response of the respondents may be filed within a period of five days from the date of its service.
5. It is agreed by the learned counsel for the petitioners that the following five writ petitions may be treated as lead cases:
| S. No. | Case No. | Cause Title |
| 1. | W.P.(C) No. 276/2025 | Arshad Madani v. Union of India |
| 2. | W.P.(C) No. 314/2025 | Muhammad Jameel Merchant v. Union of India |
| 3. | W.P.(C) No. 284/2025 | Mohammed Fazlurrahim & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. |
| 4. | W.P.(C) No. 331/2025 | Sheikh Noorul Hassan v. The Union of India & Ors. |
| 5. | W.P.(C) No. 269/2025 | Asaduddin Owaisi v. Union of India |
6. The other writ petitions/matters will be treated as intervention/impleadment applications filed in the aforesaid writ petitions.
7. The writ petitions challenging the 1995 Waqf Act and the amendments made therein in 2013 including W.P.(C) No. 353/2025 “Hari Shankar Jain and Anr. v. Union of India and Ors.” and W.P.(C) Diary No. 19103/2025 titled “Parul Khera v. Union of India and Ors.”, shall be separately shown in the cause list.
8. As a special case, liberty is granted to the petitioners, who have filed writ petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, to file their response to the said writ petitions.
9. The Union of India, the State Governments and the Waqf Boards may file preliminary reply/response to these writ petitions within a period of seven days from today.
10. Rejoinder affidavit(s), if any, may be filed within five days after service of the preliminary reply/response.
11. Both sides, that is, the petitioners and the respondents, have appointed Nodal Counsel for effecting service and for filing of documents. The names and details of the Nodal Counsel are as under:
| S.No. | Name | Email address | Side representing |
| 1. | Mr. Ejaz Maqbool | emaqbool@gmail.com | Petitioners |
| 2. | Mr. Vishnu Shankar Jain | advt.vishnujain@gmail.com | Applicants |
| 3. | Mr. Kanu Agarwal | kanu@pramatipartners.com | Respondents |
11. We clarify that the hearing fixed on the next date will be a preliminary hearing and, if required, interim orders will be passed.
12. The cause titles of the five writ petitions will read as follows:
| S. No. | Case No. | Cause Title |
| 1. | W.P.(C) No. 276/2025 | In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (1) |
| 2. | W.P.(C) No. 314/2025 | In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (2) |
| 3. | W.P.(C) No. 284/2025 | In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (3) |
| 4. | W.P.(C) No. 331/2025 | In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (4) |
| 5. | W.P.(C) No. 269/2025 | In Re: The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 (5) |
Re-list on 05.05.2025 at 02.00 p.m.
