Waqf (Amendment) Act 2025

Polity & Governance glossary

Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, also called the UMEED Act (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development), changes the Waqf Act, 1995. It changes how a waqf can be created, who sits on waqf bodies, how disputes over government land are handled and how waqf decisions can be challenged. It came into force on 8 April 2025. It matters because it tests how far the State can control property that belongs to a religious group (Articles 25, 26 and 14). The Supreme Court's interim order of 15 September 2025 has already put some of its provisions on hold.

Explanation

Background: what a waqf is

  • Waqf: a Muslim gives movable or immovable property permanently for a purpose that Muslim law treats as religious, pious or charitable. Examples are mosques, graveyards, madrasas and orphanages.
  • Once property becomes waqf, it cannot be sold or gifted.
  • Who runs waqfs under the 1995 Act:
  • Mutawalli: the manager or caretaker of one waqf.
  • State Waqf Boards: survey, register and supervise waqfs in each state.
  • Central Waqf Council: advises the Centre and the Boards.
  • Waqf Tribunals: special courts that decide waqf disputes.

How the Act was passed

  1. The Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in August 2024.
  2. It was sent to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), a committee with members from both Houses that examines a Bill in detail.
  3. Both Houses passed it in April 2025.
  4. It came into force on 8 April 2025. The Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923 was repealed (cancelled) at the same time.

Main changes

  • How a waqf can be created
  • "Waqf by user" ends for the future. Under this rule, land used for religious purposes for a long time could be treated as waqf even without papers [1].
  • From now on, a waqf can be created only by declaration or endowment [1].

  • The donor must have practised Islam for at least five years and must own the property [1].

  • Women heirs: a waqf-alal-aulad (a family waqf for one's own descendants) cannot take away the inheritance of female heirs [1].

  • Government land
  • Government property identified as waqf stops being waqf [1].

  • The Collector (a designated officer) inquires into ownership disputes and reports to the state government [1].

  • Who sits on the Boards

  • Two non-Muslim members [1].
  • At least one member each from Shias, Sunnis and backward classes of Muslims [1].
  • One member each from Bohras and Agakhanis where they have waqfs [1].

  • Two Muslim women [1].

  • Separate Boards

  • Separate Sunni and Shia Boards are allowed if Shia waqfs make up more than 15% of waqf properties or income in the state [1].

  • Separate Bohra and Agakhani Boards are also allowed [1].

  • Section 40 removed: a Board can no longer decide on its own that a property is waqf.

  • Appeals
  • Tribunal decisions are no longer final [1].

  • A party can appeal to the High Court within 90 days [1].

  • Limitation Act, 1963 applies: this law sets time limits for going to court. Waqf claims, such as cases to recover encroached land, must now be filed within those limits.

  • Accounts and records
  • The Centre can make rules on registration and on publishing accounts and Board proceedings [1].
  • The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) or a designated officer can audit waqfs [1].
  • Waqfs must be registered on a central portal.

Limits set by the Supreme Court (interim order, 15 September 2025)

An interim order is a temporary order passed while a case is still being heard.

  • No blanket stay: the Court refused to stay the whole Act [2].
  • Five-year-practice rule: stayed until state governments make rules on how to check that a person has practised Islam [2].
  • Officer's inquiry
  • The Act allowed a disputed property to lose its waqf status while a government officer inquired into ownership.
  • The Court stayed this as arbitrary [2].

  • So an officer's report alone cannot end waqf status or change revenue records (official land-ownership records).

  • Caps on non-Muslim members

  • Central Waqf Council: at most 4 non-Muslims out of 22 members [2].

  • State Waqf Boards: at most 3 non-Muslims out of 11 [2].

  • CEO: the Board's Chief Executive Officer should be a Muslim as far as possible [2].

  • The final hearing on whether the Act is valid is still pending.

In the Constitution and practice

  • Legislative power: charitable and religious endowments are in the Concurrent List (Entry 28, List III). This means both Parliament and the states can make laws on them.
  • Article 26: every religious denomination can own, acquire and manage property "in accordance with law" (Art. 26(d) covers administering property). The words "in accordance with law" allow the State to regulate how such property is managed. They do not let it take over the denomination's control.
  • Article 25: freedom of religion. Petitioners rely on it along with Article 26.
  • Article 14: equality before law. Petitioners point out that Hindu and Sikh endowment boards do not have to include members of other faiths.
  • Statute history:
  • Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923: repealed in 2025.

  • Waqf Act, 1995: amended in 2013 and again in 2025 (the UMEED Act).

  • In practice:

  • The Act has been in force since 8 April 2025.
  • The Supreme Court's interim order of 15 September 2025 kept most of it in place. It stayed the five-year-practice rule until rules are made and stayed the officer's-inquiry provision. It also capped the number of non-Muslim members [2].
  • The final judgment is awaited.

Don't confuse with

  • Waqf Act, 1995 vs Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923: the 2025 Act amended the 1995 Act and repealed the 1923 Act.
  • Waqf by user vs waqf by declaration: only waqf by user is ended, and only for the future. Waqf by declaration or endowment is still allowed [1].
  • Waqf Tribunal vs High Court: Tribunal decisions are no longer final. The appeal goes to the High Court within 90 days, not straight to the Supreme Court [1].
  • Stayed vs capped: the Supreme Court stayed the five-year rule and the officer's-inquiry provision. It did not strike down non-Muslim membership. It only capped it at 4 of 22 on the Council and 3 of 11 on State Boards [2].

Prelims Hooks

  • UMEED = Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development. In force from 8 April 2025. It repealed the Mussalman Wakf Act, 1923.
  • Religious endowments = Concurrent List, Entry 28. Art. 26(d) = the right to administer property "in accordance with law".
  • Who can create a waqf now: a person who has practised Islam for at least 5 years and owns the property. This must be done by declaration or endowment, not by user [1].
  • Separate Shia Board: allowed when Shia waqfs exceed 15% of waqf properties or income in the state [1].
  • Trap: an appeal from a Waqf Tribunal goes to the High Court within 90 days, not the Supreme Court [1].
  • SC interim order (15 September 2025): no stay on the whole Act. At most 4 of 22 non-Muslims on the Central Waqf Council and 3 of 11 on State Boards. The five-year rule is stayed until rules are made [2].

Mains Points

  • Autonomy vs accountability
  • Against the Act: it limits a denomination's right to manage its own affairs and property (Art. 26) and affects freedom of religion (Art. 25). It also treats Muslims unequally (Art. 14), because Hindu and Sikh endowment boards do not have to include people of other faiths.

  • For the Act: it targets encroachment, mismanagement and poor record-keeping. It also brings in CAG audit and High Court appeal [1].

  • Waqf by user and old properties

  • Many old mosques and graveyards have no written papers.
  • Critics say ending waqf by user, together with the Limitation Act and the removal of Section 40, puts such properties at risk.

  • Supporters say the change gives property owners a remedy against arbitrary waqf claims, including claims on government land.

  • Proportionality and diversity

  • Proportionality means a limit on a right must not go further than its purpose needs.
  • The Supreme Court took a middle path: no full stay, caps on non-Muslim members, the five-year rule put on hold and the officer's-inquiry provision stayed. This reflects proportionality.
  • The Act's gender and sect provisions (Muslim women, Bohras, Agakhanis and backward Muslims on Boards, and protection for female heirs) support the reform case [1].
  • The final verdict will decide how far the State can regulate property that belongs to a religious denomination.

Related concepts

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Sources

  1. 1The Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025: An overview of the Act vs Bill (PIB)pib.gov.in · tier 1
  2. 2Monthly Policy Review, September 2025 (PRS)prsindia.org · tier 1