The WAQF board and Hindu settlement boards cannot be compared: Center in SC | Bharat News
New Delhi:
After combating this argument of the Muslim side, the Center on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that the non-Muslim side can form a majority in the Central Waqf Council and Oukaf boards that a wrong effort was made to discriminate by comparing the Waqf bodies with the religious endowment boards of Hindu, Sich and Christian.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta demonstrated documents including the written assurance of the Ministry of Minority Affairs for the Joint Parliamentary Committee and its affidavits in SC, to remove a back of CJI Br Gavai and Justion Ag Masih that council and boards will never lose their minority character, which will never lose their minority character, which will always be Muslim.Senior advocate Kapil Sibal took about 30 minutes on Tuesday to reveal the apprehension about the council among the Muslims and to lose its minority character, claimed that the government, through the Waqf Amendment Act, 2025, at least the at least has the need to make non-Muslims in both these bodies. He had asked why the government did not try to create non-believers among the members of Hinduism, Sikhism and Christianity in its religious settlement boards.He called it discrimination on the land of religion, which violated the fundamental right to guarantee non-discrimination under Article 15.Mehta said that members of the Hindu Religious Services Board entered temples and even oversee rituals. Charity Commissioners, who may be non-Hindu, can appoint archkas (Pujris) and remove them for not rituals or for immoral activities, and SC retained it by appointing the appointment of Arcas as a secular activity, he said.The SG said that in 1956 Hindu personal laws were coded, but Muslims were ruled by Sharia law. Accepting a petition highlighting this discrimination, in 1996 SC stated that such comparison was not possible and improving personal law and religious activities was a gradual process.“There can be no comparison with Hindu religious settlement boards as they deal with religion and rituals. But boards deal with the management of Waqf properties, which is a secular activity, and the state has the power to regulate it through law. None of the petitioners have challenged the legislative capacity of Parliament to implement the WAQF Amendment Act, 2025.”He said that JPC had consulted India’s archaeological survey on ancient monuments, which was taken out of the purview of Waqf. The ASI said that while religious activities, which have been going on for years, were not prevented in protected and ancient monuments, Waqf Board was managing these monuments as Waqf had allowed unilateral commercial activities to unilaterally in these ancient places, which obstructed conservation and conservation works.Mehta said that in some cases, Waqf boards had stopped ASI from completing the work of repair and restoration in ancient monuments.
