Waqf Mutawalli Approaches Supreme Court Citing Defects In Umeed Portal; Seeks Directions To Rectify Technical Flaws

A Mutawalli from Madhya Pradesh has approached the Supreme Court challenging the enforceability of the digital uploading mandate under Section 3B of the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995, alleging that the Union government's Umeed Portal is structurally defective and technologically unfit for registering waqf properties. The writ petition, filed under Article 32, argues that the portal notified under the UMEED Rules, 2025 is incompatible with the statutory framework governing waqfs in several States and that its persistent technical glitches have made compliance impossible.

According to WAMSI data published by the Ministry of Minority Affairs, thirty States and Union Territories and thirty-two Waqf Boards have collectively reported 8.72 lakh waqf properties spread over more than thirty eight lakh acres. Of these, 4.02 lakh properties fall under the category of Waqf by User.

The petitioner cited news reports that States with the largest waqf holdings have struggled to complete uploads. Uttar Pradesh has uploaded only thirty five percent of its 1.4 lakh properties while West Bengal has uploaded twelve percent. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have managed around ten percent each and Punjab has uploaded eighty percent.

The petitioner submits that the difficulties are more acute in Madhya Pradesh, where almost all waqfs are Survey and Gazette-notified properties under Sections 4 and 5 of the Waqf Act. The category of Waqf by User rarely exist in the State. However, the Umeed Portal does not permit the entry of Survey or Gazette waqfs and compels the user to select from modes that are inapplicable in law. The petitioner claims that uploading under an incorrect category would amount to an unlawful declaration, contrary to statutory requirements and the fiduciary duties of a Mutawalli.

The petition also points to widespread technical flaws in the portal. A 195 page compilation of grievances prepared by the Union Ministry reportedly documents complaints from nearly every State, including missing districts and villages, rejection of valid revenue formats such as khasra numbers, inability to create user credentials, non functional approval workflows, repeated login failures, undefined errors, lack of autosave and system crashes. These defects have persisted throughout the six-month statutory period for uploading.

For Madhya Pradesh, the problem is aggravated by the portal's inability to accept the revenue formats commonly used in the State. The petitioner states that despite being unable to comply with the requirements due to technical impossibility, Mutawallis face penal consequences under Section 61 of the Waqf Act, including removal and prosecution. The petition argues that imposing penalties in such circumstances violates Articles 14, 21, 25, 26 and 300A of the Constitution.

While Section 3B allows an extension of time for uploading until June 2026, the petitioner contends that mere extension does not resolve the underlying legal and technological defects. The petition also notes that Sections 3B, 36 and 61 are already under constitutional challenge before the Supreme Court and that enforcing a defective mechanism when statutory validity is sub judice is premature.

Prayers Before The Court

The petition seeks a declaration that the Umeed Portal, in its present form, is structurally defective, technologically non-functional and incapable of registering Survey and Gazette notified waqfs, and therefore cannot be enforced against the petitioner or similarly placed Mutawallis.

It seeks a writ of mandamus directing the Union Government to rectify all structural and technical defects or to create a dedicated upload mechanism specifically for Survey and Gazette waqfs in Madhya Pradesh.

The petitioner also seeks directions to remove the mandatory requirement of selecting a mode of waqf in Section 5.1 of the portal's user interface or to introduce an “Other or Survey or Gazette or Statutory Waqf” option so that accurate entries can be uploaded. Further, the petition requests that no penal, coercive or disqualifying action be taken for non uploading of waqf details until the portal is corrected.

Other prayers include permitting manual or alternative lawful modes of uploading waqf records for Madhya Pradesh pending rectification of the system, staying the operation of penal provisions under Section 61, and directing authorities to maintain status quo regarding all records of the petitioner's waqf and other waqf properties in Madhya Pradesh during the pendency of the matter.

Last week, the Supreme Court had refused to accept pleas to extend the time to upload Waqf details on the Umeed portal, and asked the Waqfs to approach the jurisdictional Waqf Tribunals seeking extension of time individually.

The petition has been filed through Adv. Vaibhav Choudhary.

Case : HASHMAT ALI Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND ORS | Diary No. 70413 / 2025