On October 14, the Allahabad High Court sought responses from the Advocate General and Attorney General of India over a petition challenging the Waqf Act of 1995.
The petition, filed by one Ashish Tewari through advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, had asked the court to declare a notification that would nullify any order passed by Waqf Board on non-Islamic properties. The matter was heard by a 2-Judge Bench of Justice JJ Munir and Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal.
The petitioner sought to quash contentious provisions of the Waqf Act for violating Articles 14 (Equality before law), 15 (Prohibition of discrimination), 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion), 26 (Freedom to manage religious affairs), 27 (Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion) and 300A (Freedom as to payment of taxes for promotion of any particular religion) of the Indian Constitution.
Allahabad hc has issued notice to the attorney general in my petition challenging the waqf. Very soon the draconian law like the Waqf act,1995 will be declared unconstitutional.@HarishankarJain @AdvParthYadav @AshishT10394253 pic.twitter.com/9jV7Vi2sc5
— Vishnu Shankar Jain (@Vishnu_Jain1) October 19, 2022
He further added that the privileges accorded to Waqf Board are not provided to Akharas, Mutts, Trusts and Societies of other Faiths and thus provide unchecked power to the former to claim any property as their own.
The petitioner argued that provisions of the Waqf Act do not comply with the principles of natural justice. “In the impugned Act there is no safeguard for Hindus and non-Islamic communities to save their religious and private properties from being included in the list of Waqf issued by the Government or by the Waqf Boards and Hindu…” he said.
“…Therefore, other religious communities are being discriminated and the impugned provisions violate Articles 14,15,25,27 and 300 A of the Constitution of India,” the plea stated. It also pointed out how there are no sufficient provisions to oppose the acquisition of properties under the Waqf Act.
“Thus the fate of properties of Trust or Societies are subject to the will of the Board and in other words, they have been placed as Subordinates to Waqf Boards, which is absolutely in violation of the provisions contained in Article 14 15, 26 and 300-A of the Constitution of India,” the plea added.
The petitioner emphasised that several lands were captured in the past 10 years by the Waqf Board and declared Waqf property. The matter has been adjourned till December 15, 2022.
