New Delhi (TIP)- 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.