Waqf law rules drafted, may be approved in 15-20 days: Officials
New Delhi The Union minority affairs ministry has drafted rules to operationalise the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025 and sent it to the Union law ministry, officials told HT on Thursday, adding that the rules could be approved within 15-20 days, paving the way for their presentation in the upcoming monsoon session from July 21.
The contentious amendments to the central waqf law, which aims to make sweeping changes in the regulation and management of Islamic charitable endowments, was cleared by Parliament in April. The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on a raft of petitions asking for a stay on some of the law's controversial provisions.
A senior minority affairs ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the rules were drafted in 'record time' following the law's passage on April 4.
'We have recently sent it to the law ministry and solicitor general Tushar Mehta for final approval and finishing touches,' the official said. 'Once approved there, it goes to the Centre for final sign-off, then notification in the public gazette.'
Former secretary general PDT Achary told HT that there is 'absolutely no rule and requirement for the government to first notify the parliament about the rules and then notify.' 'As soon as the rules are approved, they can be uploaded and publicly notified through the gazette and come into effect. The government has to table it in the Parliament but there is no rule about the rules being notified to the parliament first,' he said.
Union Minister for minority affairs Kiren Rijiju separately confirmed that the rules are with the law ministry for finishing touches.
A waqf is a Muslim religious endowment, usually in the form of landed property, made for purposes of charity and community welfare. The draft bill, introduced by the government last year and amended after recommendations by a joint parliamentary committee, proposed major changes in the regulation and governance of India's waqf boards.
The law accords more power to the government and allows for the appointment of non-Muslims and women to waqf boards, but the Opposition alleged it is unconstitutional.
The rules are crucial because they will not only operationalise the changes but also clarify key procedures in registration of waqf properties, working of the central portal, and norms guiding the picking of members in the council.
The law scraps the waqf by user provision – where a property is acknowledged as waqf because it has been used for religious activities for some time, despite there being no official declaration or registration as waqf – with prospective effect, permits women, Shia sects and government officials to be members of waqf bodies, and gives overriding power to senior officials to determine if a government property belongs to a waqf.
The law also allows only a person 'showing or demonstrating that he is practising Islam for at least five years' to donate properties to waqf and stipulates that women and other rightful heirs can't be denied their inheritance due to the creation of a waqf.
The official cited above expressed confidence that the government will be able to push through the rules before the next session of Parliament. 'The process should take a few days. We hope the rules will be published within 15-20 days, in time for tabling in the monsoon session,' the official cited above said. 'It is a huge achievement... we did not think the process would be this seamless. We had good support from the states and completed the final rules drafting in record time.'
Approximately 15-20 stakeholder consultations with states, other ministries, and groups occurred during the drafting process, the official said. 'Every single updated draft, no matter how minor the changes, was shared with the states for their views. Each state participated without exceptions,' the official added, requesting anonymity.
In India, rules under a newly enacted law are notified by the relevant ministry through publication in the official gazette, exercising authority granted by specific provisions within the parent Act itself. The Waqf act also states it. While this core notification process isn't detailed in the Constitution, the crucial requirement for subsequent parliamentary scrutiny flows from it. Mandated by the Rules of Procedure of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha – framed under Articles 118(1) and 208(1) of the Constitution respectively, and reinforced by the Delegated Legislation Provisions (Amendment) Act, 1983 – these notified rules must be laid before both Houses of Parliament within 30 days, where they can be modified or annulled.
The act states, 'Every rule made by the Central Government under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before each House of Parliament, while it is in session, for a total period of thirty days which may be comprised in one session or in two or more successive sessions, and if, before the expiry of the session immediately following the session or the successive sessions aforesaid, both Houses agree in making any modification in the rule or both Houses agree that the rule should not be made, the rule shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so, however, that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule.'
Activists, opposition parties and bodies such as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) have already challenged key provisions of the new law. On May 22, the top court reserved judgment on petitions challenging the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, after hearing arguments on an interim stay.
The official quoted above clarified that the rules will provide 'finer operational details', particularly concerning the newly launched UMEED (Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development) portal. The portal aims to create a centralised digital inventory with geo-tagging of all Waqf properties, establish an online grievance redressal system, enable transparent leasing and usage tracking, integrate with GIS mapping, and provide public access to verified records. Rules governing this portal will form a significant part of the final notified rules, the official said.
This official said that incorporating the recommendations of the joint parliamentary committee, which examined an earlier iteration of the bill, received special attention during the drafting of rules. 'We want an all inclusive approach to it,' the official said.
'Even if the Supreme Court says something, we will just make the changes in the rules but since the act has been passed and received the President's assent, we will notify rules,' the official stated.
Groundwork for implementing the new law has already commenced. The minority affairs ministry wrote to all chief secretaries last week, directing them to train district-level officers. These officers will subsequently train mutawallis (waqf property managers) and other officials involved. 'The biggest task for implementing the rules is capacity building so we have already started with the same,' the official explained. 'As a Union ministry, we can train state level officers but the states will in turn have to train district level officers... so they can be in a good position to implement the rules once notified.'
Once the central rules are notified, the ministry's next task involves formulating model rules for states. A 4-5 member committee comprising retired law ministry officers and other experts has been tasked with creating these model rules, which states can then adapt according to their specific contexts.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
37 minutes ago
- Time of India
Not up to the mark! School safety and academics worst in NE Delhi
New Delhi: North East Delhi has emerged as the worst-performing district in the capital in terms of school safety and academic outcomes, according to the latest Performance Grading Index for Districts (PGI-D), released by the Union education ministry on Wednesday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The report, which assessed 788 districts across India for the years 2022–23 and 2023–24, evaluates school education quality on six parameters: learning outcomes, effective classroom transactions, infrastructure, child safety, digital learning, and governance processes, assigning a total score out of 600. Among Delhi's districts, North East Delhi scored the lowest overall — 307 out of 600 — in 2022–23, giving it a place in the 'Prachesta-1' grade. It retained the same grade in the 2023–24 cycle, confirming no year-on-year improvement in the district's standing. What stands out sharply is North East Delhi's dismal performance in the 'child safety' category, where it scored 23 out of 35 points — the lowest among the capital's districts alongside West Delhi. This domain includes indicators such as deployment of counsellors, availability of separate toilets for girls and the presence of functional grievance redressal mechanisms. In addition, the district scored only 93 out of 290 in learning outcomes, again the lowest in the city, indicating significant deficits in foundational and grade-level proficiency across primary and secondary education. The combined shortfall in both safety and academic indicators paints a worrying picture for North East Delhi, especially in the context of its post-2020 riot recovery, which had impacted several educational institutions in the area. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now While the PGI-D report does not offer causation, it suggests the district lags behind its counterparts in ensuring both a secure and academically enriching school environment. Experts say these figures demand targeted intervention. "The low scores in safety and outcomes are not just numbers — they reflect deep-rooted systemic challenges," said an education researcher familiar with the PGI framework. As per the PGI-D methodology, scores above 90% place a district in the topmost grade of 'Utkarsh' and those between 81–90% in 'Uttam-1'. North East Delhi's score, translating to just above 51%, underscores the urgency for corrective policies at the district level, the researcher added.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Minority quota hike only after fresh housing targets by govt
Bengaluru: The govt's decision to hike minority reservation in housing from 10% to 15% is likely to be implemented only once chief minister Siddaramaiah allocates "targets" for the housing department and is unlikely to impact the current situation. Housing and minority welfare minister BZ Zameer Ahmed Khan defended the govt's move and reiterated that the cabinet decision was based on central govt directives. "The state has no role to play in this quota hike," Khan said. "The central govt directed us to implement the 2006 Sachar Committee report which recommended a 15% housing quota for minorities. The chief secretary received written communication from the Centre in 2019, followed by directions from the National Minority Commission in 2021 when BJP was at the helm." Khan said the hike in quota can only be implemented when fresh targets are fixed for the housing department. "At present, Siddaramaiah has given us the green signal to complete ongoing work pending from 2013," he said. "The fresh quota is only prospective." Housing department officials say the 15% quota will not be "added" but will be "offset" from one district to another. "Say, for example, only 3% of the quota is filled in Chikkaballapur, then the remaining 7% from Chikkaballapur will be shifted to Bidar, where there is a demand for 15% from minorities," said an official. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Top Cardiologist Says This Food Can Do Wonders For Your Health Gundry MD Learn More Undo Emphasising this, chief minister Siddaramaiah said: "In many panchayats, the population of minorities is less than 10%. To ensure optimal use of targets, we have allowed the gap from these panchayats to be used elsewhere, subject to the 15% cap in the unreserved section." Meanwhile, Khan said the total expenditure for ongoing work is about Rs 9,500 crore under various housing schemes and hinted that the quota hike will not be implemented anytime soon due to a paucity of funds. Appeasement, says BJP BJP Friday continued to target the govt over its decision to increase reservation in housing for minorities from 10% to 15%, calling it "minority appeasement" and pandering to its core vote bank of the Muslim community. While criticising the decision, former chief minister BS Yediyurappa Friday, said: "We are not against minorities, but supporting them beyond a point is unpardonable. The govt is supposed to help Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Instead, it is creating confusion like Tughlaq darbar." He challenged CM Siddaramaiah and his govt to show where, in part of the state, even a kilometre of road was built. He claimed infrastructure development has come to a standstill. "Irrigation projects have been stalled and there is no one to listen to people's concerns," he said. Meanwhile, his son and party state president BY Vijayendra drew parallels between the state govt and the NDA govt under Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Centre where "both Hindus and minorities alike are being served justice". He accused Siddaramaiah of practising "devise politics", saying: "The CM's conduct demeans the dignity of his post. People will give him a befitting reply." tnn
Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Amit Shah 1st to be told about cash at judge Varma's residence
Union home minister Amit Shah NEW DELHI: Home minister Amit Shah was the first to be informed by Delhi Police commissioner Sanjay Arora about "four or five half-burnt sacks" of cash at Justice Yashwant Varma's official residence within hours of its chance discovery following a fire on the night of March 14 at the bungalow's storeroom. Responding to a fire emergency call, firefighters and police reached Justice Varma's Tughlaq Crescent bungalow a little after 11.30pm on March 14. The first responders, who stumbled upon the bags stuffed with cash, shot videos of half-burnt currency notes of Rs 500 denomination around midnight. They left after dousing the fire around 1am on March 15. Delhi Police chief Arora first informed the home minister on March 15 and, later, briefed Delhi HC Chief Justice D K Upadhyay about the cash. Delhi Police chief Sanjay Arora also shared "certain still photographs and video" of the storeroom fire with the Delhi HC CJ, who in turn informed then CJI Sanjiv Khanna, triggering a chain of events which led to setting up of an inquiry into the sensational episode. The inquiry panel said in its report, "The information was shared by Arora with Justice D K Upadhyay in the late afternoon of March 15, who was out of station in Lucknow on account of Holi vacation, and he was informed that a report had been sent to the Union home minister, wherein there was reference that there were four or five half-burnt sacks of Indian currency at the spot." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like เทรด Bitcoin และ Ethereum - ไม่ต้องใช้กระเป๋าเงิน! IC Markets เริ่มต้นตอนนี้ Undo The inquiry panel comprising Punjab and Haryana CJ Sheel Nagu, Himachal Pradesh CJ G S Sandhawalia and Karnataka HC's Justice Anu Sivaraman had sent 10 phones belonging to the first responders, used for taking videos and still images of burning cash in the storeroom, for authentication by Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), Chandigarh. The laboratory authenticated the images and videos - one of 67 seconds shot by head constable Roop Chand and another of 70 seconds shot by head constable Sunil Kumar. The panel said, "The phones have been analysed by us having been sent to CFSL, Chandigarh, and are per se admissible in view of the provisions of Section 329 of BNSS." Apart from legal admissibility of the evidence against Justice Varma, the panel said these pieces of evidence also stood corroborated by witnesses. "The said videos have been shown to independent eye-witnesses, including the fire/police personnel who were at the spot (and) who have vouched for the same," the panel said.
