Supreme Court puts hold on non-Muslim appointments to Waqf boards, pauses denotification of properties until next hearing.

India news: The Supreme Court instructed the Union government on Thursday to ensure no non-Muslim individuals would be appointed to the Waqf Council and board and that waqf properties declared or registered as waqf would not be denotified before the upcoming hearing date.

Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Vishwanathan heard Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's statement for the Union government but noted his argument against the court taking a harsh stand by indirectly staying the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025.

"We don't want the situation to change. The bench stated that they will not halt the five-year practice of Islam provision while hearing petitions against the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025. Mehta announced that the government will present its response within seven days and no Council or Board appointments will occur until the following date. He announced that until the next court date the waqf character for users will remain unchanged.

The court granted five days to the petitioners to submit their rejoinder. The court scheduled May 5, 2025 for consideration of the matter.

The process involved numerous amendments and committees while lakhs of representations were submitted. The government is seizing villages along with private properties to declare them waqf. He emphasized that no changes would occur if the court listened to both sides.

The court announced during the hearing that it would address five writ petitions while the rest would be dismissed because processing 100 to 120 petitions was unfeasible.

The court suggested maintaining the status of all properties previously declared as waqfs without any changes during the hearing of a case questioning the Waqf Amendment Act 2025.