A unanimous decision was taken to challenge the Bill in SC on Monday: Shabbir Ali
Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader and Advisor to the Telangana Government, Mohammed Ali Shabbir, announced on Saturday that he along with other national leaders would approach the Supreme Court to challenge the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill-2025, passed by the Parliament earlier this week.
Shabbir Ali participated in a crucial strategy meeting in New Delhi hosted by Indian Muslims for Civil Rights (IMCR). The meeting was also attended by Supreme Court senior advocate and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid, former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammed Adeeb, former MP Danish Ali, and TPCC Secretary Mohammed Jaweed Ahmed and others. The gathering deliberated on the legal and political roadmap in light of the Bill’s passage in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.
“We have unanimously decided to challenge the Bill in the Supreme Court. Our petition will be filed on Monday. Although the law will come into effect once it receives the President’s assent and is published in the Gazette, we will move the court based on the final version of the Bill as passed by Parliament,” said Shabbir Ali.
He termed the Waqf Amendment Act as a direct assault on the religious and constitutional rights of Muslims and a serious infringement on the autonomy of Waqf institutions.
Shabbir Ali highlighted that the Bill, while reviewed by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, saw all recommendations made by opposition MPs being rejected, thereby making the consultation process ineffective. “This is not how democracy functions. Consultation does not mean bulldozing opposition voices,” he remarked.
He expressed serious concern over provisions in the Bill that allow the inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf Boards and give State governments excessive control over the management and classification of Waqf properties.
He warned that these changes would facilitate state-led encroachment on mosques, dargahs, graveyards, idgahs, and other centuries-old Waqf institutions - especially in Telangana, where tens of thousands of acres are registered as Waqf land.