JPC approves Waqf Amendment Bill on Monday 27-January 2025 with 14 major changes in the Waqf Bill. In the committee meeting, 16 MPs voted in favor of the amendment while 10 MPs voted against it. More than three dozen meetings have been held in the last 6 months regarding the Waqf Amendment Bill. There have been 14 major changes in the bill.
JPC (Joint Parliamentary Committee) Chairman Jagdambika Pal said that all 44 amendments were discussed in this final meeting. Out of these, 14 suggestions of NDA MPs have been approved. Opposition members also made some proposals, but these were rejected during voting.
Now more non-Muslim members in waqf council/board:
Now two members in the committee can be from Hindu or any other religion. Also, one more officer of the state government will be included in it. The Chairperson of Waqf will be excluded from the count of non-Muslim members.
Members in waqf tribunal will increase:
Now Waqf Tribunal will have three members instead of two. The third person will be an Islamic scholar. Earlier there was a provision of only two members in the tribunal.
No Impact on already registered property:
If a property is already registered, then the amended Waqf law (Waqf Amendment Bill) will not be applicable on it. However, Congress MP Imran Masood objected to this. He said that according to an estimate, 90 percent of Waqf properties are not actually registered.
Apart from this, the powers of Waqf will be removed from the Collector and will now be in the hands of an officer appointed by the state government. In the earlier provision, the Collector was authorized to survey the Waqf property. But now any officer appointed by the state government will oversee and monitor the Waqf property.
The draft of the JPC will be circulated on Tuesday 28-January 2025, while it will be officially adopted on Wednesday 29-January 2025.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Waqf Amendment Bill will present its report during the budget session. The tenure of the committee was extended during the winter session of Parliament. The Waqf Act 1995, made to regularize Waqf properties, has been criticized for issues like mis-management, corruption and encroachment.
JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal said after the meeting that the amendments adopted by the committee will make the law better and more effective. However, opposition MPs condemned the proceedings of the meeting and accused Pal of destroying the democratic process.
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said that this round of meetings was ridiculous. We were not heard. Pal has worked in a dictatorial manner. On this, Jagdambika Pal said that the entire process was democratic and the opinion of the majority vote was given priority.
DMK MP A Raja said- will go to Supreme Court against Waqf law
DMK has said that after the passage of this Waqf Amendment Bill, it will file a petition in the Supreme Court against it. JPC member DMK MP A Raja claimed that this proposed law will be unconstitutional and his party will approach the Supreme Court against it. The arguments made in the committee and the documents presented will help in challenging this law.
A-Raja said that BJP MP Jagadambika Pal conducted the proceedings of the committee as per his wish. He made a mockery of this process. I think the report is also ready in advance.
10 members were suspended after uproar in JPC:
Opposition members created uproar in the JPC meeting held in Delhi on 24 January. They claimed that they were not given enough time to research the proposed changes in the draft. Allegedly that BJP is insisting on presenting the report on Waqf Amendment Bill in Parliament early keeping in mind the Delhi elections.
TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said that the proceedings of the committee have become a farce. The committee suspended 10 opposition MPs including Banerjee, Owaisi for a day.
Waqf Amendment Bill are against Muslims-Hurriyat leader said:
After the January 24 meeting, Jammu and Kashmir Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said, ‘In this, arbitrary powers have been given to the collector. By giving orders and changing the entries in the revenue records, full authority has been given to show Waqf properties as government property. These amendments are completely against the Muslim community.’
BJP MP stated:
Opposition does not want the report to be presented. At the meeting held in Delhi, JPC Chairman Jagdambika Pal said – I had allowed all the JPC members to put forward their views. He said that when I tried to answer their questions, they started sloganeering, making noise, using unparliamentary words and created a lot of ruckus. Opposition MPs were not allowing the meeting to proceed. They tried to weaken democracy. Stopping the proceedings of the meeting is part of their strategy and they do not want the report to be presented.
Budget session to run till April 4 The Joint Parliamentary Committee will present its report on the Waqf Amendment Bill during the Budget Session. The Budget Session of Parliament will begin on January 31 and continue till April 4. The Central Budget will be presented on February 1.
The Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 aims to address these challenges by bringing in reforms in the legal system for digitization, better audit, better transparency and retrieval of illegally occupied properties.
The first meeting was held on August 22 Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju introduced the Waqf Amendment Bill 2024 in the Lok Sabha on August 8. Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Samajwadi Party, opposed the bill, calling it anti-Muslim.
Amid objections and strong opposition from the opposition, the bill was sent to the JPC in the Lok Sabha without any discussion. The first meeting of the 31-member JPC on the amendment of the Wakf Bill was held on August 22. 44 amendments in the bill were to be discussed.
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