Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Sent To Joint Parliamentary Committee: Proposed Changes Explained

Today in the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament, the Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 in Lok Sabha. It proposes to bring approximately 40 amendments to the existing Waqf Act, 1995 (as amended in 2013).After an intense debate, the house referred the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee for wider scrutiny, after the Minister agreed to it.Here are the following proposed amendments(changes highlighted in bold letters):Under the definition clause Under Section 3(r): “Waqf” means the permanent dedication by any person [practicing Islam for at least five years, of any movable or immovable property, having ownership of such property] for any purpose recognised by the Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable.Section 3(r)(iv): Waqf-alal-aulad (An endowment for the family of the donor) to the extent to which the property is dedicated to any purpose recognised by Muslim law as pious, religious or charitable, provided when the line of succession fails, the income of the waqf shall be spent for education, development, welfare [maintenance of widow, divorced woman and orphan in such manner, as may be prescribed by the Central Government] and such other purposes as recognised by Muslim law.Section 3(da) introduces the position of Collector who would exercise powers some of which were once vested with the Auqaf Board.Insertion of Sections 3A, 3B and 3C for regulating waqf propertiesSection 3A: Certain conditions of waqf- 1. Only a person lawful owner of the property and competent to transfer or dedicate such property can create waqf; 2. Creation of waqf-alal-aulad shall not result in denial of inheritance rights of heirs, including women heirs, of the waqif(person making such dedication)Section 3B: Filing of details of waqf on portal and database: 1. Every waqf registered before the 2024 Amendment shall file details of the waqf and properties dedicated to the waqf to the portal and database within 1 month; 2. Details including deed, gross annual income from waqf properties, pending court cases, salary of mutawalli, taxes annually payable, name and address of creator of waqf etc and any other particulars prescribed by Central Government. Portal and database have been defined under Section 3(ka) inserted as : “waqf asset management system or any other system set up by the Central Government for the registration, accounts, audit and any other detail of waqf and the Board, as may be prescribed by the Central Government”.Section 3C: Wrongful declaration of waqf-1. Any government property 'identified' or 'declared' as waqf, before or after the Amendment, shall not be deemed to be waqf property; 2. In case of dispute whether such property belongs to government, a Collector shall make inquiry and submit report to State Government. The property in question shall not be treated as waqf until the collector submits his report.Position of Survey Commissioner omittedIn Section 4(preliminary survey of auqaf) of the 1995 Act, it was stated that the State government must appoint a Survey Commissioner to conduct a survey of auqaf in the State. In the 2024 Amendment, the position of Survey Commissioner is replaced by Collector who shall exercise the jurisdiction. Further, the nature of waqf apart from Shia or Sunni now also includes 'Aghakhani waqf' or 'Bohra waqf'.As per Section 5 (publication of list of auqaf) of the 1995 Act, once the report of the Survey Commissioner on the list of auqaf under Section 4 is given to the State government, the same shall be examined by Waqf Board. Within six months, the Waqf Board shall forward the report to the Government for publishing in the official gazette. The revenue authorities shall accordingly update the land records. Now, revenue authorities before updating the land revenue records will mandatorily have to issue public notice of 90 days, in two daily newspaper circulating in the localities of such areas where the waqf properties are located. One of the notices shall be in regional language. This is to give the affected persons opportunity to be heard.Suit can be filed to challenge the decision of Waqf TribunalUnder Section 6 (disputes regarding auqaf) of the 1995 Act, whether a property specified as waqf in the list of auqaf is waqf or not or whether it is Shia or Sunni waqf shall be decided by a Tribunal instituted under Section 83 consisting of one person from State Judicial Service holding rank of civil judge or district judge, one person from State Civil Services equivalent to Additional District Magistrate, and one person renowned in Muslim law and jurisprudence. The decision of Tribunal shall be final. Moreover, not suit to the Tribunal shall not be instituted one year after publication of the list of auqaf. This is read with Section 40 (Decision if a property waqf property) where the Board may itself collect information regarding any property which it has reason to believe to be waqf property. However, as per 2024 proposed ...

Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 Sent To Joint Parliamentary Committee: Proposed Changes Explained

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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